Virat Kohli is reportedly set to step down as Team India's captain in white-ball cricket (ODIs and T20Is) and hand over the duties to his deputy Rohit Sharma post the T20 World Cup 2021.
India is currently led across all formats by Kohli, who took over Test captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2014 and became the limited-overs skipper in 2017.
Under his captaincy, Indian team has improved by many folds and achieved great success in all forms of the game. However, as per a TOI report, Kohli has taken the decision to share the leadership responsibilities with Rohit to 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,” TOI quoted sources as saying.
While Virat Kohli’s win percentage in the limited-overs format is very high, he is yet to lead India to an ICC trophy triumph. With Kohli at the helm of affairs, Team India reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017 and semi-final of ODI World Cup in 2019 but failed to clinch the trophy.
With a T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup due to be held in 2022 and 2023 respectively, Kohli feels it's the right time to relinquish the post and let Rohit take charge.
"Captaincy in 3 formats affecting Virat’s batting. We realise spin-masters will be at work, giving their own twists to these developments. That’s the reason BCCI is planning this well in advance. In the end, Virat and Rohit are on the same page,” sources quoted as saying by TOI.
On occasions when Kohli opted out of a series, it is Rohit who took over the leadership duties and achieved impressive results. In 2018, he led the second-string Indian teams to Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup wins. Moreover, Sharma has guided Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles after becoming the captain in 2013.
According to sources, Kohli has had prolonged chat with Rohit over his decision to quit white-ball captaincy.
“If he had to ever take over as white-ball captain, that time is now. And it’s going to be a win-win for the Indian team because the two senior cricketers are so well in tune with each other,” said a source as per TOI.
(With TOI inputs)
