"That's unlikely to work" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as T20I and ODI captain respectively
Aakash Chopra believes Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma captaining Team India in ODI and T20I cricket respectively might not yield the desired results.
Kohli has made public his decision to give up India's T20I captaincy post the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. However, he has stated that he will continue to lead the side in Tests and 50-over cricket.
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In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra cited examples of other teams to highlight that Virat Kohli quitting T20I captaincy alone might not be the right call. He explained:
"The division is between red ball and white ball. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, Aaron Finch and Tim Paine - generally you find that the white ball and Test captain can be different. Split captaincy can happily co-exist but to take the red ball and one white ball and leave the other, I think that's unlikely to work."
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The former India cricketer pointed out that the team's approach is similar in both the limited-overs formats of the game. Chopra elaborated:
"The team plays similarly in ODIs and T20Is, there is not too much of a difference. You play the same brand of cricket, what you do in T20Is, you do the same in ODIs but for a little longer."
Team India have never had different captains in the ODI and T20 formats of the game. It will be interesting to see if the selectors opt to go that route.
"In the long-term vision, Virat Kohli will not remain the ODI captain as well" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra feels Virat Kohli's days as skipper in the ODI format might also be numbered. He reasoned:
"The players are almost the same. If you see the Indian team, seven to nine people are the same. You don't see too many changes there. If that is not the case, I feel in the long-term vision, Virat Kohli will not remain the ODI captain as well."
The 43-year-old signed off by stating that Rohit Sharma, who is likely to take over as the T20I skipper, should be entrusted with the ODI captaincy as well. Chopra observed:
"Whoever is made the captain now and that is going to be Rohit Sharma, you might want to give the 2023 ODI World Cup captaincy also to him apart from the 2022 T20 World Cup because you want continuity in terms of just the direction."
Sources say there was a suggestion to appoint 2 white ball vice captains going ahead in the 50 over format. BCCI doesn’t want to do this. If Virat doesn’t win the World T20 can he remain captain in the 50 over format? Seems it’s very much up in the air.
It certainly might not be practical for Team India to have separate captains in the two white-ball formats of the game. Virat Kohli might have to give up the ODI captaincy as well in such a scenario.