Rohit Sharma should take over Indian cricket team captaincy in the T20I format: Atul Wassan

Former Indian cricket team pacer Atul Wassan feels Rohit Sharma should take over the Indian team captaincy from Virat Kohli, at least in the T20I format.

"I think so (need for split captaincy). Virat wants to captain in all there formats but Rohit has shown he's an instinctive leader. His record has been good, he leads from the front. In Test cricket, Virat Kohli is boss, in ODIs, he should captain until the next World Cup. For T20s they can probably take the stress out of Virat's mind and let Rohit Sharma lead," Wassan said.

Apart from his credentials as the Indian cricket team's opener, Rohit Sharma is the most successful Indian Premier League captain, with four IPL titles to his name. With Virat Kohli unable to lead the Indian cricket team to a global title thus far, calls have become louder to make Rohit Sharma the captain of the Indian team in the shorter formats.

"Rishabh Pant could manifest into a match-winner for the Indian cricket team"

Further elucidating on how certain players have been handled in the Indian cricket team, Wassan stressed on needing to let southpaw Rishabh Pant mature into a better cricketer.

Wassan cited the example of how Pant was asked to warm the benches during India's T20I series against New Zealand and emphasised on needing to back him to come good in the future.

"Handling of Rishabh Pant has been sad. He's the future. He's in the complex of MS Dhoni and he is being watched closely. You will spoil his game if you focus too much on him. Once you have identified talent, let them be. People might say he has been irresponsible with shot selection, but that's the nature of the beast. He will mature, the more matches he plays, he will eventually turn a match-winner. If you play him in 3 matches and drop him for the next five games, his confidence will drop," Wassan added.