Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has backed Rohit Sharma to lead India in all three forms of the game.
Rohit is already named as the limited-overs captain after Virat Kohli decided to quit the T20I captaincy while he was sacked as the ODI skipper as the national selectors wanted one captain in the limited-overs format.
As Virat Kohli has now decided to give up Test captaincy, it would be interesting to note who will be India’s new Test captain. It has been reported that KL Rahul can be given the Test captaincy baton. On the other hand, former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar and former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh want Rishabh Pant to be the team’s new Test skipper.
In fact, Gavaskar and former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feel Rohit Sharma should not be given the Test captaincy reins because of his fitness woes.
However, Gautam Gambhir reckons one captain across all formats will ensure there is consistency in approach and has backed Rohit Sharma to be India’s new Test captain. Rohit has done a fine job as a Test opener as he has proved his mettle in all conditions. The talisman had scored 368 runs in four Test matches against England in 2021.
“In my book, Rohit Sharma should lead India across all formats with Rahul as his deputy. One captain across formats will ensure consistency in style and approach of the Indian team especially considering that we have another T20 World Cup later in the year,” Gambhir wrote in his column for The Times of India.
On the other hand, there have been some doubts over Shikhar Dhawan’s place in the ODI team. Dhawan didn’t score a whole lot of runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy while Ruturaj Gaikwad had impressed in the domestic tournament. Gambhir is hopeful that Dhawan will not be ignored in the playing XI especially when Rohit Sharma is not part of the team.
“There is a thought that Shikhar should not be played in the XI. I feel that would be disastrous. Why would you then take Shikhar to South Africa and then leave him on the bench? It will make no sense at all,” Gambhir wrote.
The first ODI between South Africa and India will be played at Paarl on January 19.
