Why Rohit Sharma is a better captain than Virat Kohli

It would be wrong to say that the best batsman in a team is the best leader to guide the team. Virat Kohli became the captain of the Indian team in all formats after MS Dhoni relinquished captaincy. However, the leadership qualities of Kohli have often invited criticism. Rohit Sharma, the vice-captain, can potentially be a better option as he has a calm head on his shoulders and more often than not, gets the best out of his team.

Let's analyze why Rohit is a better skipper than Kohli:

Team selection

Khaleel Ahmed, who took four wickets in his debut match and turned the tables for India, was dropped in favour of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who did not fare well against Hong Kong. The Meerut born pacer took three wickets against Pakistan and conceded just 15 runs and was also adjudged as the man of the match.

Rohit Sharma backed Bhuvneshwar and he repaid his faith. Kohli, on the other hand, is seen by many as less patient with players' performances. Kohli's team selection in the series against South Africa raised quite a few eyebrows and it was one of the reasons for India's poor performance in England as well.

Handling tough situations

Rohit Sharma has always proved that he can handle tough situations and his decisions in crucial stages have always turned the tables for his team. On the other hand, Kohli often appears to lack composure in crunch situations. It could be said that the current Indian captain needs someone like MS Dhoni as a mentor on the field at times and one needs to understand that the Ranchi born wicket keeper-batsman may not be around forever as he enters the twilight of his career.

Experience of winning big tournaments

Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title thrice under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. Rohit's team successfully defended 128 runs against Rising Pune Supergiant in the final of one of the seasons and won the IPL title. On the other hand, Kohli has failed to win any big tournament as a leader. Royal Challengers Bengaluru were beaten twice in the final under his captaincy and in Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan defeated India. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that Rohit has a much better record of winning trophies than his counterpart.

Efficient use of players

In 2007, the Indian team won the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Dhoni. Nobody was expecting the young Indian team led by Dhoni to win the tournament. The main reason for the victory was the efficient use of players by the skipper.

He boosted the confidence of every player and used them as per the requirements. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the other hand, have not bagged the IPL title despite having the best players of the world.

The prime reason behind their debacle is leadership. The main job of a skipper is to assign a proper role to a player. If he fails to judge the strength of a player, he can not utilise that player properly. Virat is undoubtedly a great batsman but he fails to get the best out of his teammates. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma leads a team having average players but he uses them efficiently and knows the strength of each player. That's why Mumbai Indians have won the title thrice.

Winning Percentage

The winning percentage of Royal Challengers Bengaluru is just 48.17 despite having players like Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have a winning percentage of 57.01 which is the second highest winning percentage after Chennai Super Kings. This winning percentage vividly depicts the capability of both the skippers.