Picture Credit: Twitter
Team India is about to witness a serious transformation. After Virat Kohli willingly gave up his T20I captaincy citing workload management, Rohit Sharma was then appointed the captain for the shortest format of the game. Now, the Indian cricket management has removed Virat from ODI captaincy also and appointed Rohit Sharma to take it forward. This big update was announced when the BCCI announced the dates and squad related details for the upcoming South Africa Tour.
These crucial decisions regarding the leadership roles and management change from Ravi Shastri to Rahul Dravid has left fans, retired cricketers, commentators and the cricket fraternity divided. It must be noted that Virat Kohli will continue to lead the Indian Test side and Rohit Sharma has been named as his deputy for the longest format.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra gave his views on the captaincy change on his YouTube Channel. Chopra supported BCCI's decision to remove Virat Kohli from ODI captaincy. Having said that, the decision to go ahead with Rohit Sharma as new skipper, Aakash felt it was "bound to happen". He also went on to explain how the cricketing authorities made a clear distinction between the white and red ball cricket.
Rohit is "tactically very good" and a "strong captain": Aakash Chopra
Aakash went on to speak about how Virat's decision to step down as India's T20I captain was always going to lead to his dismissal as India's One Day captain. It is to be noted that Virat Kohli, who already stepped down as India's T20I leader, was given a period of 48 hours (2 days) to voluntarily forgo his leadership role but he did not respond to it. As a result, the leadership role was handed over to Rohit Sharma.
Aakash Chopra added that the distinction between white and red ball cricket with the change in captaincy is now settled. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma's T20I captaincy began on a promising note. Team India defeated the Black Caps by 3-0 in November. Aakash Chopra praised Rohit Sharma and called him "tactically very good" and a "strong captain".
Team India will travel to South Africa on 16th December for the South Africa Tour beginning on 26th December 2021.