The Treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Arun Dhumal, has reacted to the media reports that emerged on Monday morning, claiming Rohit Sharma could replace Virat Kohli as captain in the limited-overs format after the completion of T20 World Cup 2021.
A report published in Times of India mentioned that Rohit could take over the responsibility of white-ball captaincy as Kohli had taken a call to step down as Team India skipper in order to put more focus 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.”
“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 One-day batting,” said sources.
However, Dhumal has rubbished such claims, stating nothing like that is happening as the apex Indian board hasn’t discussed anything on the issue of split captaincy. Dhumal confirmed that Kohli would remain captain of all formats.
“This is all rubbish. Nothing as such is happening. This is all what you guys (media) are talking about. BCCI has not met or discussed anything on this issue (split captaincy). Virat will remain as the captain (of all formats),” Dhumal told IANS.
Kohli has so far captained India in 95 ODIs and 45 T20I matches, winning 65 and 29, respectively. On the other hand, Rohit has led Team India in 10 ODIs and 19 T20Is, registering 8 and 15 triumphs, respectively.
