Virat Kohli has been making the headlines over the last couple of months mainly for his string of resignations from various captaincy posts. The most recent one was from the Test side and while addressing this issue, former India cricketer Saba Karim explained how Kohli forced the BCCI to take certain actions.
Last week, India's cricket governing body announced the Test and T20I squads for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka. They also took the opportunity to officially reveal the appointment of Rohit Sharma as the new permanent skipper in whites.
Karim, while speaking in a video on YouTube channel Khelneeti, said that there was no choice but to take this call.
"BCCI was forced to change split captaincy plans after Virat Kohli's sudden resignation from Test captaincy. Kohli was not expected to leave the red-ball captaincy and because of his resignation, India had to make Rohit Sharma the skipper across formats.
“Sharma is an ideal candidate for the leadership role and we can groom youngsters under him. Giving vice-captaincy opportunities to the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah shows that the grooming process has begun,” said Karim.
{{/usCountry}}“Sharma is an ideal candidate for the leadership role and we can groom youngsters under him. Giving vice-captaincy opportunities to the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah shows that the grooming process has begun,” said Karim.
{{/usCountry}}Former India wicketkeeper also added that Sharma was the obvious choice because there were no other front-runners.
“At times there are statements like there is a lot of pressure on an Indian captain and there should be split captaincy. But then, a new all-format captain is announced. I believe that the selectors have made Rohit Sharma the captain, as there were no other frontrunners for the post," he concluded.
India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in two Tests and three T20Is. The tour begins in Lucknow with the first T20I on February 24.