Questions have been looming on Virat Kohli’s captaincy ever since the 32-year-old decided to step down as the captain of the T20I squad. However, Kohli agreed to continue as a player in T20Is.
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Rohit Sharma was given the responsibility of leading the side in T20Is after Kohli decided to give up his position.
There has been huge speculation on Kohli’s captaincy on ODIs. Many reports have suggested that Rohit Sharma will be given the opportunity to lead Team India in ODIs as well. If reports are to be believed, Team India’s newly appointed head coach Rahul Dravid wants Rohit Sharma to captain the team in limited overs format.
It is also heard that Chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma, Abey Kuruvilla and Sunil Joshi will sit along with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah to take the final call on Virat Kohli’s captaincy in ODIs after the conclusion of the Mumbai test.
India are scheduled to tour the Rainbow Nation to play three T20Is, as many ODIs and four tests which will begin from December 26. The BCCI along with CSA have decided to begin the series later this month despite the emergence of a new mutated variant of Covid-19 named ‘Omicron’.
The BCCI officials believe that Team India should have one white ball skipper that is Rohit. They want Rohit to lead the side for the South Africa tour as he will get more time to be with the squad ahead of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in 2023.
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“As of now, it looks difficult that Virat would be able to keep his ODI captaincy but since ODI isn’t important this year with very few matches here and there, one can think of delaying the decision,” a senior BCCI source told PTI.
“But the counter argument is that why do you want to have separate ideas for two formats and if majority of people in charge of making decision feel that Rohit is the man going forward and will get time to prepare a team for 2023 event,” he said.
It is also believed that Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara will regain their positions for Dravid’s first overseas tour. However, Rohit Sharma will be made Team India’s vice-captain in the longest format of the game. However, Rahane will find it difficult to find his position amongst Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari in the middle order.
“Obviously, he is going to South Africa but had he not got injured, there was a high chance of him getting dropped from the eleven. So, if he is not a sure-shot starter, how can he remain the deputy. If Rahane is removed from vice-captaincy, Rohit is the obvious choice. He was in fact vice-captain in Australia Test series in last two games,” the official said.
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