Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik said that with Team India set to play plenty of cricket this year, it’ll be the biggest challenge for skipper Rohit Sharma to maintain his fitness. 

Rohit Sharma’s stint as the full-time white-ball Indian skipper started on a high as under him India whitewashed West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is. The right-hander recently was also appointed as the Test skipper. 

Of late, Rohit Sharma has been bothered with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the South Africa tour. With him being the all-format skipper now, it’ll be the biggest challenge for him to maintain his fitness and lead from the front.

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Speaking to Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik lauded Rohit Sharma as a tactically astute skipper. He said that the right-hander has a great understanding of the game and can play all three formats consistently.

But with a lot of cricket to be played throughout the year, it’ll be the biggest challenge form him to maintain that consistency. 

"I think Rohit is very astute tactically. And the amount of cricket he will play will define how consistently he can play all three formats. He is at a place where there is a lot of cricket to be played throughout the year. That's going to be a big challenge for someone like Rohit,” Dinesh Karthik said. 

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Dinesh Karthik admitted that Rohit Sharma is a quality captain and stays ahead of the game. He cited the example of how the Indian skipper rotated his bowlers during the third T20I against West Indies. 

He while highlighting Rohit Sharma’s history of injuries said that the question regarding how much cricket will he play will be always there. 

“He is a quality captain... there's no doubt about that. When it comes to tactics, we saw in this game (third T20I against West Indies) that he is well ahead of the game. He rotated bowlers and brought Avesh Khan at the right time. 

"Also, Shardul gave away 18 runs in his first over but finished with figures of 4/33. He (Rohit) is somebody who understands bowlers and what to do with them. With Rohit, the question is always going to be: 'How much cricket is he going to play?'," he said. 

Rohit Sharma’s stint as the Test captain will begin from 4th March when India takes on Sri Lanka in the first match of the Test series in Mohali. 

(Cricbuzz inputs)