Rahane, Pujara Called up Jay Shah from England over Kohli’s Captaincy: Report

It's becoming more widely known that Team India's senior Test batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are dissatisfied with the leadership of Virat Kohli after the team's defeat to New Zealand in the World Test Championship final in June.

The Kiwis defeated India by 8 wickets in the first World T20 final. Even though no Indian batsman scored a fifty, Rahane and Pujara took the brunt of the criticism for India's batting performance.

New Indian Express has reported that Kohli "pulled up in the dressing room" both senior batters. While Pujara struggled in the first innings with 8 runs off 54 balls, he was able to score 49 in the second and add 15 off 40 balls in the third to help his team win.

Pujara and Rahane reportedly contacted BCCI Secretary Jay Shah after the World T20 final to criticise Virat Kohli's leadership, especially off the field. This is according to reports in the media now.

“While the team took a two-week break after the WTC final, it is reliably learnt that the two batsmen dialled the secretary personally, following which the BCCI seems to have stepped in,” the reports in New Indian Express added.

Virat Kohli started following his return from England that he would stand down as India's T20I captain after the end of the T20 World Cup in July. His ODI captaincy, it's thought, is also in jeopardy.

“It is understood that only after these phone calls did the BCCI seek feedback from a few other players and decided to act at the end of the tour. While Kohli attributed workload management as a reason to step aside as T20 captain, it is learnt that the BCCI will now decide on his 50-over captaincy after the end of the World Cup,” the report added.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli has stated that this would be his last IPL season. Workload management was mentioned as a factor for both choices.