Virat Kohli’s resignation as India’s T20I captain and RCB’s captain came as a big shock for a vast majority of the Indian cricket fans because Virat Kohli is still very young and fans were hoping that he would lead India for many more years, in all three formats of the game.
One of the biggest reasons behind Virat Kohli’s sudden announcement was the pressure that was being built up by the media and a section of fans who were questioning India’s performance in the big ICC tournaments under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. Also, Rohit Sharma’s outstanding record as captain in the Indian Premier League added more pressure on Kohli and finally he took the decision to step down.
But, it needs to be seen now whether Virat Kohli will give up the ODI captaincy as well because, mostly, boards across the world prefer having one captain for both the white-ball formats.
It is also noteworthy that because of the present COVID situation in which players have to remain in a bio-bubble, India will send a jumbo squad to all the upcoming tours, and this makes the case for having one man lead India in both the white-ball formats; T20Is as well as ODIs.
As per the media reports, there are two school of thoughts in the BCCI.
1) Virat Kohli should be allowed to continue as there are only 9 ODI matches in the next 9 months.
2) Rohit Sharma should be given the responsibility immediately as he will get enough time to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
It is also being reported that BCCI’s President Mr. Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Mr. Jay Shah, will take a call on this before the upcoming tour of South Africa, in which India will play all three formats. It is being said that Virat Kohli’s fate as India’s ODI captain will be decided this week when the national selectors will announce the squad for the tour of South Africa.
OUR VIEW: We believe that the selectors shouldn’t waste anytime in handing over the ODI captaincy to Rohit Sharma as it will give him enough time to build a squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Also, if we look at India’s T20I and ODI squads, most of the players feature in both the formats and this makes the case for giving both the captaincies to Rohit Sharma even stronger. However, we think the selectors will wait and stay with Virat Kohli for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
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