The strategy to have different captains in white-ball and Test cricket has been a topic of debate for quite some time now. Numerous teams, over the years, have chosen to have a split captaincy — England have Eoin Morgan as white-ball skipper while Joe Root leads the team in Tests, Aaron Finch is the Australia skipper in ODIs and T20Is while (earlier) Tim Paine and now Pat Cummins captains the team in Test cricket. India too have decided to take that route after Test captain Virat Kohli decided to step down as T20I skipper and the BCCI took the decision to then replace him ODIs as well with Rohit Sharma given the charge.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has seen both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma up close and personal and probably understands their cricket acumen better than most.
Shastri, whose last assignment as India coaching was the T20 World Cup, opened up on India’s decision to have split captaincy with Rohit taking over the reins completely in white-ball cricket.
“I think it’s the right way to go. And this could be a blessing in disguise for Virat, and for Rohit. Because I don’t think in this era, if the bubble life exists for another year or so, one guy to handle all three, it’s not easy at all,” Shastri said on a Star Sports show.
Shastri feels that with the white-ball captaincy gone, Kohli can focus on red-ball cricket, where he should continue to lead for “as long as he wants”.
“I honestly feel inside that it could be a blessing in disguise for Virat. He can focus on the red-ball. There is no problem there. He should lead for as long as he wants to lead because what he brings on the field, that energy, very few captains can do in Test match cricket. So, he will be there but it will allow him to just sit back a bit, reflect a little more on his game, because he has got a good five-six, years left,” said the former India cricketer.
Highlights
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Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli as India’s white-ball captain
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Ravi Shastri spoke about India’s decision to have split captaincy
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Shastri said it was a blessing in disguise for both Virat and Rohit
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has seen both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma up close and personal and probably understands their cricket acumen better than most.
Shastri, whose last assignment as India coaching was the T20 World Cup, opened up on India’s decision to have split captaincy with Rohit taking over the reins completely in white-ball cricket.
“I think it’s the right way to go. And this could be a blessing in disguise for Virat, and for Rohit. Because I don’t think in this era, if the bubble life exists for another year or so, one guy to handle all three, it’s not easy at all,” Shastri said on a Star Sports show.
Shastri feels that with the white-ball captaincy gone, Kohli can focus on red-ball cricket, where he should continue to lead for “as long as he wants”.
“I honestly feel inside that it could be a blessing in disguise for Virat. He can focus on the red-ball. There is no problem there. He should lead for as long as he wants to lead because what he brings on the field, that energy, very few captains can do in Test match cricket. So, he will be there but it will allow him to just sit back a bit, reflect a little more on his game, because he has got a good five-six, years left,” said the former India cricketer.
Virat Kohli is currently with the Indian team for the ongoing three-match Test series in South Africa.
The first Test in Centurion got underway on Sunday.