In the wake of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 debacle, the BCCI cracked the whip against the centrally contracted cricketers, making their participation in domestic tournaments mandatory and limiting travel of wives and girlfriends on overseas tours.
Now, a fresh report makes a startling claim over the Indian Test captaincy. During the Australia tour, India skipper Rohit Sharma was struggling so much that he decided to step aside from the fifth and final Test in Sydney.
Rumours are rife that the Melbourne Test may have been Rohit’s last for India, considering that the 37-year-old is unlikely to be in the scheme of things for India’s next WTC cycle, which begins with the tour of England in June this year.
Amidst all this, a report published in myKhel has suggested that Virat Kohli may be appointed as Indian Test captain on an interim basis as other 'junior' candidates are still not ready for the high-profile role.
The report also stated that India coach Gautam Gambhir had a dialogue with Kohli regarding the same but the latter is yet to show any inclination towards taking up the job again.
The report further claimed that ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah may not be considered for the Test captaincy due to workload management.
"Coach Gautam Gambhir has backed the idea of Virat leading the Test team again. But he is yet to clear his stance officially," the report quoted a source as saying.
"Team India has done well under the aggressive captaincy of Virat, especially in overseas conditions. With the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle starting, the team needs a leader like Kohli because the next line of Test leaders is still in development. In the interim, Kohli looks like the most suited option."
Meanwhile, Rohit was left miffed on the eve of the first ODI against England in Nagpur when a journalist asked whether he was feeling more comfortable after returning to white-ball fold after enduring tough time in the longest format.
"What sort of a question is that?" an irritated Rohit asked before going on to add, "This is a different format, different time. As usual, as cricketers, we know there will be ups and downs. I have faced that a lot in my career. This is nothing new to me. We know that every day is fresh, and every series is a new one. I am looking forward to the challenge. Not looking at the past. Clearly, you don't. So I don't have any reason to look at the past."
Rohit also lost his cool when another reporter asked whether the reports about the BCCI asking for clarity about his future after the Champions Trophy were true.
"How is it relevant that I talk about my future plans sitting here where there are three ODIs and a Champions Trophy coming in?" the captain responded. "The reports are going on for a number of years but I am not here to clarify those reports. My focus is on these games, we will see what happens afterwards."
With growing speculations on his future, Rohit Sharma scored 2 off 7 balls in the ODI series opener against England. He tried to flick a delivery from Saqib Mahmood off his pads, only to top edge the ball straight into the hands of Liam Livingstone.
Rohit's scores during the 2024/25 season across formats read 6, 5, 23, 8, 2, 52, 0, 8, 18, 11, 3, 6, 10, 3, 9 and 2, with a sum total of 166 runs from 16 innings at a terrible average of 10.37.
