Former Indian cricketer and commentator, Irfan Pathan, is against the idea of having different captains for different formats of the game in Indian cricket. He believes that split captaincy shouldn't be part of the Indian cricket team's culture.
Notably, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced different captains for India's upcoming tour to South Africa in December, and it didn’t go down well with Pathan.
Well, the BCCI named three captains for the South Africa tour because India's captain Rohit Sharma requested a break. As a result, Suryakumar Yadav will lead Team India in the three-match T20I series, starting on December 10. Then, KL Rahul will step in as captain for the three-match ODI series.
Rohit Sharma will return as the Test captain for the two-match series, beginning on December 26 in South Africa.
Irfan Pathan was quoted as saying by Star Sports: “This could be a sign for the future, which I am not a big fan of. There has been talk for a long time about whether we can do split captaincy. It's true that workload management has been done here and that is why you are seeing such big squads and different captains. It's clear that Rohit Sharma had to take a break from white-ball cricket, so you are not seeing him there.”
He signed off by saying, “You are seeing him as the captain for Test cricket. However, you might see these things going forward. You might even see different coaches for different formats. I believe it's better if it doesn't happen in our culture.”
Notably, Virat Kohli has also taken break from the limited-overs series against South Africa and will only play in the two Tests.
(With Star Sports/PTI Inputs)
