Rohit Sharma new captaincy review; replace Virat Kohli
Despite his impeccable captaincy credentials, Sharma has no room for error given the circumstances surrounding Kohli’s removal from ODI captaincy.
Rohit Sharma is deserving of better. The ODI captaincy scandal has put him under undue pressure to win every time he leads the team in the format. Keyboard warriors would be on the lookout for any blunder.
When Virat Kohli announced his retirement as T20I captain, he named Rohit his replacement, ensuring a smooth transition. But Kohli did not resign as ODI captain on his terms. Based on the social media abuse that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah have received over the leadership change, Rohit will walk a captaincy tightrope.
Five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles as captain of the Mumbai Indians attest to Rohit’s leadership abilities. He has been Kohli’s long-serving deputy in limited-overs cricket, filling in for 10 ODIs and 19 T20Is before taking over full-time for the three-match home series against New Zealand, which began with a clean sweep.
Both Kohli and Ganguly have given him their stamp of approval for his captaincy abilities.
Rohit is a white-ball legend in his own right who has brought his A-game to Test cricket in recent seasons. Unfortunately, social media trolls are uninterest in logic, expressing strong personal preferences. In that sense, Rohit will be judged against Kohli in each game. He will undoubtedly have the latter’s on-field support. However, Kohli’s supporters, who have 45.3 million on Twitter, may not be so kind.
The 2023 World Cup in India was one of the reasons Kohli want to continue as ODI captain, leading the country in such a large home tournament. It would be naive to believe that he would abandon his ambition. Rohit requires runs and victories to secure his ODI captaincy.
