India’s white-ball leadership is all set a big change in the coming months with current skipper Virat Kohli likely to step down after the 2021 T20 Men’s World Cup in UAE and Oman.
Kohli is expected to hand over the role to Rohit Sharma, the IPL’s most decorated captain. Kohli, 32, is believed to want to concentrate more on his batting.
“Virat himself will make the announcement. He is of the view that he needs to concentrate on his batting and go back to becoming what he’s always been — the best batsman in the world,” The Times of India quoted sources as saying.
Rohit and Kohli will share the leadership duties with Rohit.
One of the biggest criticisms of Kohli’s captaincy is his failure to land a major ICC trophy since taking over the charge of the team. Recently, in June, India lost in the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton.
One of India’s most successful captains, Kohli led India in 95 ODIs, and with 65 wins and 27 defeats. In 45 T20Is so far where he has been the captain, India have won 27 times while losing 14 times.
Meanwhile, Rohit, 34, has led India 10 times in ODIs and led them to victories on eight occasions. In T20Is, he has captained them 19 times of which they have won 15 and lost four.
“It will wrap up a historic Test cycle from an India perspective. Virat is also the first to realise that his overall responsibilities as captain across formats are taking a toll on his batting. He needs that space and freshness because he has a lot more to offer. If Rohit takes over as white-ball captain, Virat can continue leading India’s red-ball aspirations and work on his T20 and ODI batting. He’s just 32 and given his fitness, he will easily play top cricket for another five to six years at least,” the report further quoted sources as saying.
Earlier in March, it had been reported that the COVID-19 pandemic, long quarantines helped bring the two senior players closer and improve the relationship between them, the report added.
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