3 reasons why Rohit Sharma should replace Virat Kohli as India’s limited-overs captain

Although Virat Kohli has been the captain of the Indian limited-over sides for only two and a half years, he has captained the team in two global tournaments in that period. And India, despite going into both those tournaments with huge potential in the squad, couldn’t go all the way in either of them.

Yes, the captain can’t be held totally responsible for every defeat that a team suffers. But what has been identical in the two ICC knockout defeats that India has suffered under Kohli, has been the failure of the top 3 against the new ball followed by the middle order’s inability to steady the sinking ship after that.

While the middle order batsmen can’t escape criticism for not stepping up to the plate after the rare failure of the top order, it also can’t go ignored that India were the only team in the recently concluded World Cup which kept chopping and changing its middle order throughout the tournament. Even before a game as big as a semi-final, they had no idea who their ideal No. 4, 5, 6 and 7 were.

India v New Zealand - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Semi-Final

It’s not just during the World Cup that India have constantly experimented with the middle order spots; they have been doing that right since the start of Kohli’s reign as captain. And one of the reasons behind that is Kohli’s impatience to give any player enough time to settle at a particular spot in the middle order.

Even though India’s campaign in the World Cup ended on an extremely sad note, the BCCI has decided to keep Kohli in charge of the team across all three formats. But many Indian fans believe it’s time now for Rohit Sharma to take over the leadership role in limited-overs cricket from Kohli.

Here are the 3 reasons why Rohit should replace Kohli as India’s limited-overs captain:

#1 Willingness to back players

Rohit has always shown tremendous confidence in the young players

Rohit Sharma is a 4-time IPL winner with Mumbai Indians as captain. While he has been blessed with some wonderful players in the Mumbai squad, the role of his leadership in Mumbai’s triumphs can’t be undermined.

One of the things that Rohit does with the Mumbai team is that he doesn’t chop and change much. If he picks a young player, he gives him ample time to find his feet before discarding him if he fails consistently.

The prime example of that are the two leg spinners that he has played in the past two editions. Rohit had two options at his disposal at the start of the last season – Mayank Markande and Rahul Chahar. Rohit decided to go with Markande last season and gave him the full season to showcase his potential, even though he proved to be expensive in some of the games.

This season, he did the same with Rahul Chahar. And the confidence shown by the captain resulted in both the spinners being able to earn an India call-up through their IPL performances.

Unlike Kohli, Rohit is willing to back young players - which is utterly important for the development of their skills.

#2 Calmness under pressure

Rohit has got an element of composure in his captaincy

While taking advice from the seniors is not a bad thing from the captaincy point of view, letting seniors take complete charge of the situation when the whips are cracking is not the sign of a confident leader.

Kohli is rarely seen talking to the bowlers while they are bowling the death overs, which is probably the most crucial period of the bowling innings in modern-day white ball cricket. He positions himself at the long on or the long off boundary, and it’s the former captain MS Dhoni who takes charge of the field placements during that period.

Not only does this confuse the bowler about the bowling plans the captain wants him to execute, it also adds extra pressure on him if he is taken to the cleaners - because the captain is not there to communicate with him.

This is another aspect where Rohit Sharma is a bit different. While captaining the Mumbai Indians or even while captaining India on some occasions, Rohit likes to keep himself in the 30-yard circle during the pressure situations. That way he can convey the bowling plans to the bowler on a regular basis, rather than leaving it all on the bowler himself and the keeper.

Rohit has that composure and calmness to find a way out of adverse situations.

#Clarity of thought

Rohit has always been a clear thinker

It has happened on umpteen occasions in the last couple of years that Kohli has said something in a press conference and has done the exact opposite in a match.

He called Ajinkya Rahane strictly an opener and not a middle order option, and then used him at No. 4 in South Africa. He said Ambati Rayudu was a certain No. 4 for the World Cup and then overlooked him for the tournament altogether.

Kohli has been very unclear with his plans and his judgments of players.

Rohit, on the other hand, doesn’t often back off from his statements. He seems clear with what he wants to do with his teams, whether it’s his IPL team or even India whenever he has got the opportunity to be the captain in Kohli’s absence.

Rohit believes and has often even said in press conferences that MS Dhoni should bat up the order. And whenever he has captained India, he has actually implemented that. This clear thought process is what makes Rohit an incredibly good limited-overs leader, and probably better in comparison to Kohli.