Virat Kohli named the captain of India's ODI and T20 sides

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What’s the story?

As the selection committee led by MSK Prasad sat down to name the 16 member squad for the ODI and T20 series against England which begins on January 15th, Virat Kohli was named as the captain of the side.

In case you didn’t know...

The decision to appoint Kohli as captain came after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as the captain of the Indian ODI and T20 team on Wednesday. He made the decision during Jharkhand’s Ranji Trophy semifinal match against Gujarat and conveyed his decision to the chief selector. 

Dhoni has been included in the squad and will take part in the ODI and T20 series as a wicket-keeper batsman under Kohli’s leadership. 

The heart of the matter

Kohli, who is the current captain of India’s Test side has achieved immense success this year and has guided India to their longest ever unbeaten run in Tests. Dhoni handed over the Test captaincy to Kohli after a poor outing against England and Australia in 2014. Since then, his success at the ODI level too was not as good as it was before, as India were knocked out in the semifinals of the ICC World Cup in 2015, and the World T20 which was held in 2016. 

Kohli is also the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore side and has led them to the final of the tournament twice.

What next?

As we all know, Virat Kohli’s first test as captain of the limited-overs side will be against England on January 15th. His toughest assignment will come in June when India will fight to defend their Champions Trophy title in England. 

Sportskeeda’s take

After his success as the captain of the Test side, it will be extremely interesting to see how Kohli is able to handle the pressure of being the captain in all three formats of the game. It will also be extremely interesting to see how Dhoni plays under Kohli, and how the duo takes the team forward. 

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