BCCI Appoints Rohit Sharma As ODI Captain for India

Summary

• BCCI Gives Virat Kohli The Boot from ODIs/li>
• Virat Kohli to captain in tests and Sharma to be vice-captain
• Will there be tensions between Sharma and Kohli?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a bold decision by removing Virat Kohli from the ODI captaincy and has appointed Rohit Sharma as the new captain. This news does not come as a major surprise to Indian cricket fans as Virat Kohli announced a few weeks ago that he was resigning from the T20 captaincy.

There were rumours that he was also going to leave the ODI captaincy and now those rumours have been confirmed.

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When Kohli was the ODI captain, his deputy was Rohit Sharma. Hence, it comes as no surprise to see the BCCI elevate Sharma to the ODI captaincy. There are many who believe that Rohit Sharma is a better T20 and ODI captain than Virat Kohli. Sharma has a great IPL record with the Mumbai Indians as he has led them to five IPL championships.

The BCCI has also given Sharma the responsibility of being the vice-captain in test cricket. They have stripped A Rahane off the vice-captaincy given his poor form and it is quite likely that Rahane will struggle to find a place in the playing XI going forward.

Kohli has done a pretty good job captaining India in the ODI format. To look at the stats, Kohli has captained India in 95 ODI games and he has won 65 of those matches, giving him a win percentage of over 70 percent. His record is good but it looks like the BCCI wanted to have a new captain as India prepares for the next ICC ODI World Cup which takes place in 2023.

The big question for Indian cricket fans is whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be able to successfully work together in tests, ODIs and T20 games. If Kohli and Sharma can work well together, India will be a much stronger team but if they find it difficult to compromise it will reflect in India’s performance.

The next challenge for India is a three match test series in South Africa in December 2021, which will then be followed by a three match ODI series.