While Rohit Sharma’s Test captaincy is not under immediate threat despite India’s 209-run loss in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, he needs to produce impressive batting performances to avoid uncertainty over his leadership position in the longest format, PTI reported on Tuesday (June 13).
Rohit registered scores of 15 and 43 as India’s two innings folded for 296 and 234 in the WTC final against Australia at The Oval.
The right-handed opener is certain to lead India in the upcoming two-Test series against West Indies, but the BCCI and the national selectors will be under pressure to take a tough call if he fails with the bat in the tour of Caribbean.
Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16 whereas the second Test will be played in Trinidad from July 20-24.
“These are baseless stuff that Rohit will be removed from captaincy. Yes, whether he will last the whole two-year WTC cycle is a big question as he would be nearly 38 when the third edition ends in 2025,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“As of now, I believe that Shiv Sunder Das and his colleagues will have to take a call after the two Tests and looking at his batting form,” the source added.
“After West Indies, we have no Tests till December-end when the team travels to South Africa. So there is enough time for selectors to deliberate and take a decision. By then the fifth selector (new chairman) will also join the panel and a decision can be taken,” he continued.
Notably, Rohit was appointed India’s all-format captain after Virat Kohli relinquished the Test captaincy in January 2022.
Apparently, Rohit wasn’t very keen to become the leader in the longest format since he didn’t know that whether his body would be able to bear the workload.
“The two top men at that time (former president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah) had to convince him to take up the role once KL Rahul failed to impress as a captain in South Africa,” the source said.
After taking over the Test captaincy in 2022, Rohit featured in India’s 7 out of 10 Tests so far. He missed out on three matches — one in England due to COVID-19 and two in Bangladesh due to split webbing.
In 7 Tests and 11 innings, Rohit has scored 390 runs at an average of 35.45 with one century and no other score above 50.
(With PTI Inputs)
