5 reasons why Rohit Sharma should be made India's ODI captain

India won the Asia Cup 2018 by defeating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final. It was a comprehensive performance by the Indian team throughout the Asia Cup and they clearly looked a mile ahead of the other teams.

However, India weren't considered the pre-tournament favourites. One of the major reasons for this was the absence of Virat Kohli. In the past couple of years, the Indian team seemed to be over-dependent on the ace batsman. While his batting was obviously going to be missed, questions were also raised over the team's leadership in Kohli's absence.

But Rohit Sharma stole the show. Rohit, who had captained India before, looked at home as captain, winning a lot of accolades for his astute leadership. His success as captain has given food for thought about India's ODI captaincy.

There is strong reasoning behind this thought-process and we will try to figure out why Rohit Sharma is a better choice than Virat Kohli for India's ODI captaincy. Here are five reasons why Rohit Sharma should be given the ODI captaincy permanently.

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#5 Taking some burden off Kohli's shoulders

Kohli has been a playing a lot of cricket

Virat Kohli has too much on his plate right now. Apart from being India's number one batsman across all formats, Kohli also has the toughest job in world cricket, that of captaining the Indian cricket team. He also plays non-stop cricket throughout the year.

So much cricket and responsibilities must be taking a toll on Kohli, both physically and mentally. And thus, cricket experts and pundits feel that Rohit Sharma should be made the ODI captain, in order to take some pressure off Kohli and allow him to play solely as a batsman.

#4 Rohit's proven track record as a captain

Rohit has led Mumbai Indians to IPL title thrice

Rohit Sharma might be new to captaining India, but he isn't new to captaincy in general. He has been captaining his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians, since 2013 and has led them to IPL glory three times in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Rohit has led the Mumbai Indians' side brilliantly, and has shown the ability to get his team back on track after being completely down and out. Even though leading India is completely different from leading an IPL side, Rohit knows how captaincy works out. In the short time that he has lead India, he has been extremely successful. India has won every series under his captaincy so far.

#3 Captaincy brings the best out of Rohit Sharma

Rohit celebrating his hundred

Early in his career Rohit Sharma was bit of a frustration for cricket fans in the country. Despite having talent in abundance, he for some reason he failed to do justice to that talent playing for India. Even in the IPL, Rohit struggled to bring consistency in his game.

But it all changed in 2013 when he was given the captaincy of Mumbai Indians in the middle of the season. Captaining the team, Rohit batted with responsibility and became a different batsman altogether. In the few series that he captained the national side, Rohit's performance as a batsman has been outstanding. It looks like captaincy brings the best out of the 31-year-old.

#2 Rohit showing more confidence in the players

Rohit used his spinners to good effect in the Asia Cup

Virat Kohli has been criticised for his 'chopping and changing' time and again. Kohli hasn't been the best when it comes to team selections, and a sense of insecurity has been creeping into the Indian camp off late. Rohit Sharma seems to back the players more, and this was seen in the team selections at the Asia Cup.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was making a comeback after a back injury, did not have a good first match against Hong Kong. With Khaleel Ahmed impressing with his pace and control, there were noises about him replacing Bhuvneshwar for the game against Pakistan.

But Rohit stuck to the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and he delivered a Man of the Match performance against Pakistan. Players should be allowed to perform without the fear of getting dropped and looks like Rohit believes in this theory.

#1 Better on-field tactics and decisions than Kohli

Rohit Sharma ecstatic as Kuldeep picks up a wicket

One of the biggest things that go in Rohit's favour is his on-field strategies. He has been spot on with bowling changes and field placements. He also seems to read the game a little better than Kohli. There have been instances under Kohli's captaincy where he has let the opposition batsmen get off the hook.

After getting a couple of quick wickets, Kohli had allowed the new batsmen to settle down by being defensive. On the other hand, Rohit likes to attack the new batsmen and always looks to pick wickets. He has always bought his best bowler on when a new batsman comes to the crease. Rohit also makes bowling changes according to the match situation, and strengths and weaknesses of the batsman.