Rohit Sharma Appointed Team India’s Captain In ODIs And T20Is, Vice-captain In Tests

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Rohit Sharma was appointed captain of Team India in One-day Internationals on Wednesday, taking over from Virat Kohli. The opening batter was also appointed vice-captain in Tests, replacing Ajinkya Rahane. Rohit had been appointed captain of the T20I team last month, ahead of the home series against New Zealand. NDTV had reported earlier, that a complete change of guard in white-ball cricket was imminent. Virat Kohli had stepped down from India’s T20I captaincy at the end of the ICC T20 World Cup. Rohit’s elevation to the top job in ODIs brings the curtains down on Kohli’s era as captain in limited overs cricket.

BCCI announced the decision along with the 18-member squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa, with the first Test starting in Centurion from December 26.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” BCCI’s tweet stated.

The 18-member squad for the Test matches will be led by Virat Kohli and Rohit will be his deputy. Ajinkya Rahane, whose performance with the bat has been under the scanner for a while, has been included in the squad.

KL Rahul, who missed the home series against New Zealand due to injury, is back and so are the likes of Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and premier paceman Jasprit Bumrah, all of whom were rested for the two-match series against the Kiwis.

Both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, along with opening batter Shubman Gill, were not selected due to injuries. Off spinner Jayant Yadav retained his position along with Ravichandran Ashwin. Wriddhiman Saha is the back-up wicket-keeper after a good series with both bat and gloves against the Kiwis, while Hanuma Vihari has made a comeback to the squad after a good outing with the India A team on the recent tour of South Africa.

Team India full squad for Test series vs South Africa:

Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(wk), Wriddhiman Saha(wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.

Rohit taking over the reins in white-ball cricket could be a move aimed at giving him a fair chance to build a team ahead of the ICC World Cup at home in 2023. This brings an end to Kohli’s era as captain of the ODI team, which has been an exceptionally successful period for the team, except the fact that he failed to win any big ICC trophy.

Promoted

Kohli captained the team to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 and the semi-final of the ICC World Cup in 2019. He has a 70 percent win ratio in ODIs, winning 65 of the 95 matches he led the team in. He had taken over officially as India’s captain in limited overs cricket from MS Dhoni in January 2017.

Rohit Sharma’s first assignment as captain in ODIs will be the three-match series in South Africa.

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