Opinion: Is it time for India to appoint Rohit Sharma as the captain in the LOI formats?
India entered the 12th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup as one of the heavy favorites along with the host nation England. India topped the points table at the end of the league stage with seven wins in nine games. As a result, India marched into the semi-finals full of confidence.
Bowling first, the Indian bowlers restricted New Zealand to a modest score of 239. However, India's top-order batsmen failed collectively in the run chase. Despite a brave fightback from Ravindra Jadeja, New Zealand won the match by 18 runs.
Ever since the exclusion of Yuvraj Singh, India have failed to find a proper No.4 batsman. In fact, they hardly gave long ropes to the players who were auditioned for the no.4 slot. Only Ambati Rayudu was given a long rope until the start of this year. However, he was infamously axed in favor of Vijay Shankar, who played only nine ODIs before the World Cup.
When Shikhar Dhawan picked up an injury at the beginning of the tournament, India surprisingly decided to replace him with a middle-order batsman, Rishabh Pant. Additionally, when Vijay Shankar was injured, they replaced him with a yet to debut opening batsman, Mayank Agarwal. The squad selection was bizarre throughout the tournament.
On the back of the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal performing well in the past 18 months, India employed the same strategy at the start of the tournament. However, the duo failed to repeat their magic in the mega event.
Nevertheless, Virat Kohli persisted with the pair and ignored Jadeja in the playing XI until the last league match. Similarly, instead of selecting an in-form Mohammed Shami, Kohli persisted with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the semi-final.
The inclusion of Rohit Sharma over Ajinkya Rahane in the first two Tests against South Africa, the non-selection of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second Test against South Africa, and the non-selection of Cheteshwar Pujara in the first Test against England are some of the other examples of selection blunders in the past 18 months.
As a result, India lost their Test series against South Africa and England.
In terms of squad selection, the BCCI selectors play a significant role in selecting the players. However, unlike the other boards or countries, Virat Kohli has the final say in the squad selection and playing XI.
Under Kohli’s captaincy, India have won 56 out of 77 ODIs. Even though Kohli has an excellent win% of 74.34, India have lost huge tournaments such as the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup under his captaincy.
Kohli’s captaincy skill has always come under the scanner whenever the stakes become high. Even in the IPL, he is yet to win the trophy at least once. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has won four IPL trophies as the skipper of Mumbai Indians.
Besides, he has captained India several times in the absence of Kohli. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India have won an ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka in 2017, Nidahas Trophy, Asia Cup, and a T20I series against West Indies in 2018.
Rohit’s full-time appointment will reduce the burden on Kohli’s shoulders. Besides, Rohit’s appointment will bring a fresh breath of air in terms of strategy and player selection. Rohit’s backing of young talents and handling of pressure situations in the IPL will further strengthen his case.
Even in the past matches, we have seen Rohit helping Kohli in fielding placements and guiding bowlers during pressure situations. In the Test series against Australia, it was after Rohit's suggestion that Jasprit Bumrah bowled a slower delivery to outfox Shaun Marsh. He suggested the same to Lasith Malinga in the ultimate ball of IPL 2019 final to dismiss Shardul Thakur. These are some of the good examples of his captaincy skill.
Even in the famous Nidahas Trophy final, it was Rohit who sent Vijay Shankar ahead of Dinesh Karthik. Since the experience always matters in the death-overs in T20s, Rohit decided to save Karthik for the final flourish. Another perfect example of his captaincy skill under pressure situation is his rotation of bowlers in the IPL 2019 final to defend a below-par target against CSK.
In hindsight, Kohli's overall captaincy record looks great. His batting record also looks excellent. However, he has been a part of several debatable selections in the past, which often resulted in India losing major Test series and ICC tournaments.
Unlike Kohli, Rohit has rarely committed such mistakes. Overall, Rohit's captaincy record looks very good. In view of the near future, testing Rohit Sharma as the captain in the limited overs format could be a good option, considering that the T20 world cup is only a year away.
NOTE: The views of the author do not necessarily have to reflect the views of Sportskeeda.
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