'Kohli, Dhoni who captained before him, their strength was...': Ex-IND cricketer points out Rohit's 'biggest challenge'

Rohit's first assignment as an ODI skipper will be the West Indies series at home, staring February 6

Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar pointed out Rohit Sharma's biggest challenge as he begins all set to begin his first assignment as an ODI captain of the Indian team this month.

Rohit Sharma; MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli

Replacing Kohli earlier in November, BCCI named Rohit as India's new white-ball skipper. However, he had missed not only his first assignment as the new Test vice-captain, in the tour of South Africa, he also missed the ODIs, after failing to recover from the hamstring injury he suffered during the New Zealand series at home.

With Rohit suffering from fitness issue of late in his career, Agarkar, in his conversation with Star Sports, on their show Game Plan, said that Rohit's biggest challenge will be to remain fit, like his predecessors MS Dhoni and Kohli, who hardly missed matches due to injury concerns.

"I believe his [Rohit's] biggest challenge will be to remain fit. We have seen of late that he has got a few injuries. The captains who were there before him - Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni - their strength was that both were extremely fit and they missed matches very few times in their careers," he said.

The veteran Indian pacer further explained that by remaining fit, Rohit will have it easier to build the perfect white-ball squad for the two impending World Cups - the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup.

"So that will be a challenge because when you play all the games, it will be easier for you to build the team. You will be able to see closely how each player reacts in a given situation. So that will be the key for him because he has the leadership qualities and we have seen that as well, he added.

Agarkar also termed Rohit's captaincy style as being more "laidback" than Kohli, before highlighting that the responsibility for the senior Indian opener will be different as a full-time captain as compared to past experiences where he performed as a stand-in skipper.

"Whatever we have seen of him, he will definitely be slightly laidback than Virat Kohli. But we have seen his leadership qualities, not just in franchise cricket. He has reached a stage of his career where he is extremely experienced, played a lot of matches in international cricket, so he has the experience of that.

"Generally, there is a feel for the game required for a captain, it seems he has that. The responsibility will be different now because when you are a stand-in captain, you are there for a series or few matches but here you have to prepare a team for the next World Cup - whether it is T20 or 50-over."

Rohit's first assignment as an ODI skipper will be the West Indies series at home, staring February 6, which will be followed by a three-match T20I series in Kolkata.