Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players'Show your presence on the ground like Virat Kohli': Ex-Pakistan star's two-fisted 'captaincy' verdict on Rohit Sharma
The former Pakistan star spoke about Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India begin their 2023-25 WTC cycle next month against West Indies.
The BCCI on Friday announced the Test and ODI squads for the West Indies tour earlier this week; with one of the major omissions being that of Cheteshwar Pujara from the squad for the longest format. A mainstay in the side for many years, Pujara was excluded following a poor outing in the World Test Championship final earlier this month, where India faced a huge defeat to Australia.
The selectors opted to put their faith in the young blood with Yashasvi Jaiswal coming into the side, while Ruturaj Gaikwad also received a call-up for the Test series. Rohit Sharma continues to captain the side in the new WTC cycle and the Indian team will be aiming to start brightly with the Caribbean tour. However, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal had a word of advise for Rohit as India heads into the new cycle.
Also read: 'Ponting had a nibble because Robinson took his name in PC': Broad's colossal 'hardly full of shrinking violets' remark
Akmal urged Rohit to be more active as a leader in the Test team, and even stated that the Indian captain should take a leaf out of Virat Kohli's book; Kohli had an energetic presence on the field and often engaged with the crowd to cheer for his side.
“It's a balanced team. Indian team needs to have a good start. I want Rohit Sharma to do better with captaincy. Show your presence on the ground like Virat Kohli used to do. He has got a chance. (Having said that), Rohit Sharma has done a decent job so far after what went down with the Kohli saga,” Akmal said on his official YouTube channel.
Akmal's comments came after India had a disappointing outing in the WTC Final; it was the side's second-successive defeat in the summit clash of the tournament. While Rohit retains the leadership role, Ajinkya Rahane – who only made his comeback into the team after over an year in the WTC Final – was promoted to vice-captaincy role.
