Indian great Sunil Gavaskar reckons Rohit Sharma should be the team’s captain for the next two World Cups.
India’s current captain Virat Kohli has decided to relinquish his captaincy duties from T20 format after the conclusion of the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Rohit is expected to take over the captaincy baton from Kohli for the shortest format of the game. However, the Little Master wants Rohit to be India’s skipper for the forthcoming World Cup, which is not going to be the case.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has had a stellar record as a T20 captain as he has led Mumbai Indians to five titles in the IPL. Rohit also has an impressive record as India’s limited-overs captain as the team has won 14 out of the 19 matches under his leadership. The Mumbai batsman has led the team to wins in Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli hasn’t won any title as a leader with Royal Challengers Bangalore. This will be the first time when Kohli will be leading India in the T20 World Cup and it will also be the last one. Kohli had a good record as India’s T20 captain as the national team has won 27 out of the 45 matches they have played under his leadership whereas they have lost 14 and two matches have ended in a tie while two were drawn.
“I think Rohit Sharma as captain for the next two World Cups. You could say they (World Cups) are back-to-back, one starting in a month and another exactly a year from now. So clearly, yes, you don’t want to change too many captains at this particular stage. Rohit Sharma would definitely be my choice for the captaincy of the Indian team for both these T20 World Cups,” Gavaskar said in a discussion on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
On the other hand, Gavaskar proposed the idea of making KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant the vice-captain of the T20 team. Rahul and Pant are currently leading Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals respectively in the ongoing season.
“And then, I’m looking at KL Rahul for vice-captain. I would also keep Rishabh Pant in mind because he has been really impressive in the way he has led a star-studded Delhi team and the bowling changes that he has been making in the T20 format, using (Anrich) Nortje and (Kagiso) Rabada in such a clever manner that actually shows a street-smart captain, and you always want a street-smart captain who can read situations and act immediately. So yes, Rahul and Pant are the two guys I would look at as Vice Captains,” he elaborated.
