'Kohli ki himmat hai vo 5 saal nikaal gaya. Rohit ki haalat dekho...': Pakistan star's explosive remark on India captain

The Pakistan star didn't mince his words as he talked about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's captaincy during a YouTube video.

Team India registered a comprehensive 3-0 win in the ODI series against New Zealand on Tuesday, beating the Kiwis by 90 runs in the final match in Indore. Indian captain Rohit Sharma produced a sublime performance with the bat, scoring his 30th ODI century (101); he forged a 212-run partnership for the first wicket with Shubman Gill, who also scored his second century in three games.

India's captain Rohit Sharma, left, receives a pat on his back from teammate Virat Kohli (AP)

While India did secure a comfortable series win, Rohit's captaincy came under significant scanner last year when the side had failed to lift the T20 World Cup title; India had faced a 10-wicket loss to England in the semi-final of the tournament. At the turn of the year, Rohit – as well as former captain and star batter Virat Kohli – were missing from the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series which marked the beginning of India's cricketing action in 2023.

Rohit remains absent from the New Zealand T20Is as well and while there's no official word on the star duo's future in the shortest format of the game, many speculate that Hardik Pandya – who is named the T20I captain in the absence of Rohit – is set to steer a new era in the format.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal made an interesting comment on the same as he talked about the captaincy concerns in Pakistan's own side. Babar Azam is facing criticism after the side's failure to deliver results at home; Pakistan underwent a winless run in their home Test season, losing four of their 8 Tests. The side also lost the ODI series to New Zealand earlier this month, raising further doubts over Babar's captaincy future.

“I don't support three captains for three different formats. You can have two captains. Also, there's no time to change a captain now, because you have a World Cup coming up. You could've made the change after the T20 World Cup last year, because the new captain would've had some experience by then,” Akmal said in a video posted by former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt when asked if Pakistan should have different captains for different formats.

Akmal, then, gave an example of Rohit and Kohli.

“You can have two captains, for sure. You can manage workload that way. It's not easy to captain in all three formats. Virat Kohli ki himmat hai vo 5 saal nikaal gaya, Rohit Sharma ko ek saal nahi hua aur uski haalat dekh lo kya ho gayi. Toss me bataana bhool gaya ki batting karni hai ya bowling (Kohli is brave that he spent 5 years as captain across formats. Rohit didn't even complete a year and look what's happening to him. He even forgot at the toss if he wants to bat or bowl),” Akmal said.

The Pakistan wicketkeeper is referring to the incident that took place ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand, when Rohit had won the toss but forgot what he actually wanted to do.

Rohit will return to action in the four-match Test series against Australia at home, that begins next month.