'Talk to each other, put the country before yourself': Kapil Dev urges Virat Kohli, BCCI to make peace

Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev, who led Team India to its first World Cup triumph in 1983 has urged Virat Kohli and BCCI to sort out their issues for the sake of the betterment of Indian cricket. Ever since Virat Kohli announced his decision to step down as the T20I skipper last year, there have been a few blows exchanged between the two parties. 

Firstly, BCCI supremo Sourav Ganguly came out in public and stated that he personally asked Kohli not to relinquish T20I captaincy. Virat was subsequently granted his wish, but ODI captaincy was also snatched off him, and given to Rohit Sharma. 

The 33-year-old then held a fiery press conference wherein he denied Ganguly's claims, and said that nobody had asked him not to give up the captaincy. He would then go on to drop another bombshell and step down as the skipper of Test team also. 

In the meantime, Team India's on-field performances also suffered as they stumbled to a 2-1 series loss at the hands of South Africa, and would suffer a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series as well 

Kapil Dev, however, has urged Virat Kohli and BCCI to let bygones be bygones and make peace once and for all. 

"These days you do not get surprised by much. When he quit the T20I captaincy, one thought perhaps there was too much on his mind. From what we have read and heard, nobody wanted him to give up captaincy (then or now). He is a fantastic player; we should respect his decision," said Kapil Dev in an interview with The Week magazine. 

He further continued, "They should have sorted out the issues between them. Pick up the phone, talk to each other, put the country and team before yourself. In the beginning, I also got everything I wanted. But sometimes, you may not get it. That should not mean that you leave the captaincy. If he has left it because of that, then I do not know what to say. He is a fabulous player; [I want to] watch him play so much more and score runs, especially in Test cricket."

Meanwhile, Team India's next assignment will be at home against West Indies when the Caribbean side come to tour India for a three-match ODI series and T20I series of as many games.