On Monday, reports surfaced in Indian media that Rohit Sharma will be taking over as India's ODI and T20I captain from Virat Kohli after the T20 World Cup. The report, first out in a leading newspaper daily, sent the country into a frenzy as the concept of split captaincy is one that has been heavily debated but no action seems to have been taken by the BCCI towards it.
Earlier in the day, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla rubbished the reports, saying there has been nothing discussed on the idea of split captaincy. And now, another top official of the board, secretary Jay Shah, has addressed the rumours, announcing that as long as India continue to perform, there will be no change in guard.
"As long as a team is performing while on the crease, the question of change in captaincy doesn’t arise," Shah told The Indian Express.
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While Kohli has been a terrific Test captain – he is the country's most successful Test skipper leading India to 38 wins from 65 matches – the team is yet to win a major trophy under his leadership since 2017 when MS Dhoni stepped away. Under Kohli, India reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017 and the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup, and while the team played brilliantly through the tournament, it stumbled in the final hurdles. Kohli is also yet to win an IPL trophy as captain.
Meanwhile, Rohit has proven his leadership skills more than once. He has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles – in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 – and his record while leading India is equally impressive. In 10 ODIs with Rohit as captain, India has won 8 as under him India secured the 2018 Asia Cup title, a tournament in which Kohli was rested. In T20Is, Rohit has led India in 19 matches, of which the team has won 15, including the Nidahas Trophy title victory in March of 2018.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Rohit has proven his leadership skills more than once. He has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles – in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 – and his record while leading India is equally impressive. In 10 ODIs with Rohit as captain, India has won 8 as under him India secured the 2018 Asia Cup title, a tournament in which Kohli was rested. In T20Is, Rohit has led India in 19 matches, of which the team has won 15, including the Nidahas Trophy title victory in March of 2018.
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