“Rohit Sharma can’t captain India in all three formats for a long time,” says former Indian selector

Rohit Sharma is in line to become India's new test captain after Virat Kohli's resignation

AbhishekFriday January 28, 2022

90 2 minutes read

Perth Scorchers beat the Sydney Sixers in the final of Big Bash League (BBL) today to win their 4th title and strengthen their position further as the most successful team of the competition. No team ever has won as many BBL titles as the Scorchers, and they well and truly lived up to their reputation in today's final as well. Sydney Sixers didn't have their strongest team available in the competition because of the COVID and they went into the final as underdogs. However the way the Sixers had played in their previous game, it was expected that they would be able to stretch the Scorchers to their limits and it's not going to be a walk in the park for the Scorchers. But, the way it turned out, it was a completely one-sided contest. Perth Scorchers batted first and put on a substantial score of more than 170 on the board, despite the fact that their premier batsman Mitchell Marsh didn't fire. The English middle-order batsman Laurie Evans played some fantastic shots all around the ground and it was because of his knock of 70 odd that the Scorchers were able to get to a score, which was probably a little bit overpar. Sydney, in response, never even looked like getting anywhere close to the total. The bowling attack of the Scorchers had a decent bit of international experience. They had the likes of Jhye Richardson who is now one of Australia's top 5 bowlers in test cricket and Andrew Tye who has not just played a lot of white ball international cricket, but has also played a lot in the IPL as well. Both these bowlers bowled superbly under lights. Perth Scorchers were overwhelmingly favorites to win the final The Sixers were bundled out for less than 100 and it ended up as a huge victory for the Scorchers who were overwhelmingly favorites for the trophy anyway. This triumph has, however, been a bit more special for the Scorchers as they didn't get to play on their home turf because of the strict COVID guidelines in Western Australia. Despite playing mostly away during the course of their campaign, the Scorchers managed to maintain the standards of their performance and came out triumphant again, 4th time in BBL history. The fans on Twitter likened the Scorchers to Mumbai Indians who are the most successful team in the biggest T20 league in the world, the IPL. Here is how Twitter reacted after the Perth Scorchers won their 4th BBL title today -

The former Indian selector Saba Karim is of the view that even if Rohit Sharma is named the captain of India in all three formats of the game, he isn’t going to continue for a long time, not just because he is already in his mid 30s, but also because of his fitness issues.

According to Saba Karim, the Indian selectors will find themselves in a decision-making position again in 2023 because both the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship (WTC) will be concluded that year and Rohit will be 37 by then.

If the selectors have to look towards the future from there, there has to be a change in captaincy again, which is why it’s important that another leader, apart from Rohit, gets groomed from now itself.

Saba Karim, while talking to the Khelneeti podcast, admitted that there is no option other than Rohit Sharma at this point of time because he is one of those very few players who are well settled in all three formats of the game and experienced enough to take the leadership role as well.

For what Rohit has done in Indian cricket as a batsman and in the IPL as a captain, he has got a lot of respect within the team and he can lead the team well for the next couple of years. But, it can’t be a long term arrangement.

The Indian selectors haven’t named anyone as the test captain of India yet and initially, there were reports that KL Rahul might be one of the contenders to take over the test captaincy, because of uncertainty over Rohit’s fitness to be able to play in all three formats for India consistently. But, Rahul, quite clearly, couldn’t impress the selectors with his captaincy on the South Africa tour.

Rohit Sharma hasn’t captained a lot in first-class cricket yet

Rohit Sharma is now the favorite to take over the Test captaincy as well, apart from the white ball captaincy which has already been given to him, but Saba Karim reckons there will be scrutiny on Rohit’s fitness because India can’t afford to have a captain who sustains regular injuries.

Although Rohit Sharma has got a lot of experience of captaining in white ball cricket as he has been the captain of Mumbai Indians for the last 8 years in the IPL, he hasn’t captained a lot in first-class cricket and it’s only because of Virat Kohli’s sudden resignation that he is in the frame to lead India’s test team as well.