"It's going to be a challenge for Rahul Dravid" - Aakash Chopra on India having two different skippers in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Aakash Chopra believes it will be a challenge for Rahul Dravid to adjust to the working styles of Team India's two skippers - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Kohli gave up Team India's captaincy in the shortest format of the game after the T20 World Cup, with Sharma taking over the reins. While the former will continue to lead the Test side, it will be interesting to see if he is persisted with as the ODI skipper as well.
Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli inspired the Indian team to do wonders away from home 👏
With Rahul Dravid reportedly wanting Rohit Sharma to be the captain of the Indian team in white-ball cricket, we are sure both of them will take the legacy forward 🙌
#India #TeamIndia https://t.co/ZcSJOrqsCV
During a discussion on Star Sports about Virat Kohli getting adjusted to Rahul Dravid as Team India's new head coach, Aakash Chopra highlighted that it will be a challenge for the latter as well. He elaborated:
"You are talking about Virat Kohli, which is fantastic, that he has to stay together, you need to learn about the other person's temperament, who is a coach now, you might have spent time with him as a player but it's going to be a challenge for Rahul Dravid as well."
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that Rahul Dravid will have to take the team forward with two different skippers. Chopra said:
"There is one captain in one format and a second captain in the other format. Of course, you want to take Indian cricket in the same direction but you have to manage that with two different leaders."
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have contrasting approaches as skippers. While the former is in-your-face, the latter is more laidback and calculative.
"You have to be receptive" - Aakash Chopra feels Rahul Dravid is the right man for the job
Aakash Chopra added that Rahul Dravid will have to align himself with the visions of both Kohli and Sharma. He observed:
"Someone has a different temperament and the other one understands things in a different way and you have to be receptive. Rohit will have a vision, you will have align with that. Kohli has a vision."
However, the 44-year-old concluded by pointing out that Rahul Dravid is the perfect man for the job. Chopra stated:
"Of course, Indian cricket will certainly have a collective vision but every captain has a different way of working. To drive that mode of working in one fashion, it is a very interesting one because this has never happened in Indian cricket that a team has two captains and they are both-format players. But Rahul is the right guy, he will balance it very well."
•Tests Captain - Virat Kohli.
•ODIs Captain - Virat Kohli.
•T20I Captain - Rohit Sharma.
•Head Coach - Rahul Dravid.
This is the New Era Of Indian Cricket. But really exciting & good to see how Rahul Dravid, Virat and Rohit work together and take Indian cricket forward. https://t.co/EG1XvHyG2r
MS Dhoni has led India in the past in limited-overs cricket when Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli were the Test skippers. However, Kumble was not a part of the white-ball side at the time and Dhoni himself had retired from Test cricket when Kohli became the captain.