"Beginning of Hitman's era!" - Twitter erupts as Rohit Sharma replaces Virat Kohli as India's ODI captain
In a bombshell announcement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) relieved Virat Kohli from India's ODI captaincy and named Rohit Sharma as his successor on Wednesday.
The move was being speculated since Virat Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy, allowing Rohit Sharma to take over. There was a prevalent opinion in the fraternity that split-captaincy in the two white-ball formats won't work, especially with a T20 World Cup and an ODI World Cup lined up in two years.
It was also reported recently that the board was in contact with both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to discuss the future of the format. Still, the announcement, without any such indication from Kohli, is certain to catch many by surprise.
Similar stupefaction was also visible on social media as Twitter went wild with responses and opinions. While some celebrated the beginning of a "new era", others rued Virat Kohli's departure. The remainder joined the fun with hilarious memes. The following are the best of the reactions:
@BCCI @ImRo45 Ab ayega Maza !
Mumbai Cricket cha Raja 💙❤️🤗🤔🏆
Hopefully Virat can play without pressure in limited overs 🤗🤔💙❤️🏏👑 https://t.co/oBwm5bespp
@BCCI @ImRo45 Beginning of Hitman's era 😎🔥💙 https://t.co/8IH8nkSNoq
@BCCI @ImRo45 it's Rohit Sharma era and we are living it 🤍💉 https://t.co/h6UXYlasT1
@BCCI @ImRo45 Well done @BCCI on clearing the air regarding the limited overs captaincy. Wishing nothing but the very to best @ImRo45 and the team for the upcoming ODI series. Also wishing the very best to @imVkohli and his team for the upcoming test series. Go well team 👍🏻👍🏻
@BCCI @ImRo45 😊😊 https://t.co/g7jM9KkxYx
HITMAN @ImRo45 appointed as the new ODI captain of Indian team
#RohitSharma https://t.co/lUiKKIQ5xa
So Virat Kohli will not end up having the Kings glory, 2023 was a great chance for him but his batting form and workload got to him. The ambassador of Test cricket continues his journey.
#RohitSharma #ViratKohli #INDvSA https://t.co/HU4UW7eakO
So it is the end of Virat Kohli as a captain in white ball cricket... Looks little harsh decision as his record in odi as captain was exceptional.. Although
Best of luck to our new white ball cricket captain @ImRo45 twitter.com/BCCI/status/14…
It's time that I only watch test cricket
I simply cannot stand the idea of Virat playing under someone else's captaincy no never😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Rcb is a different thing but not thiss
#ViratKohli
@BCCI @ImRo45 Virat Kohli to Committee https://t.co/dBeN0nYbxk
VIRAT KOHLI AS ODI CAPTAIN
MATCHES : 95
WON : 65
LOST : 27
WIN% : 70.43 🔥
Lead Indian team to Finals of CT & Semi-final of WC 💥
YOU WILL BE ALWAYS BE MY CAPTAIN @imVkohli 👑❤️ https://t.co/khn1fsqXWv
Virat Kohli is a true millennial. He is stepping down from captaincy in EMIs
Virat Kohli to captaincy https://t.co/NR4gLJs5Va
No Century
Stepped Down from IPL Captaincy
Stepped Down from T20I Captaincy
& Now sacked from ODI Captaincy
2021: Year to forget for Virat Kohli & his fans!! https://t.co/zJ9gNEHCtp
New captain https://t.co/eEHluf2SvK
@BCCI @ImRo45 You are always my captain ♥️🙏@imVkohli https://t.co/BYg3MK0C2W
Rohit Sharma's ODI captaincy record
Rohit Sharma will now hold the reigns of both India's ODI and T20Is sides, while Virat Kohli will continue to lead in Test cricket. Rohit's first full-time ODI captaincy assignment will be an away three-match series in South Africa, which will begin on January 19 in Paarl.
The 34-year-old has led India in 10 ODIs so far, winning eight of them. The ODI captaincy sits light on him too, as in the position he has scored a double century, a century and four fifties. His job will be to build a team strong enough to win at least one of the two upcoming World Cups and end India's ICC trophy drought.
It would also be interesting to see how this impacts Virat Kohli's batting performance. It will certainly be an ease of workload for him but much like Rohit Sharma, the captaincy also brought out the best in the Test skipper.
Whether or not Rohit can bring his IPL Midas touch to international cricket and how much batting support he gets from his predecessor will define the next two years of Indian cricket.