Analysing whether Virat Kohli should step down from ODI and T20I captaincy

The battle for the Asian championship has begun and India have already qualified for the finals after defeating their arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets. The Indian team have won all the matches with the only match left against Afghanistan in the super fours.

The Men in Blue have been in sublime form except against Hong Kong in which they looked scratchy. The highlight of this success is the captaincy of stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma. He has the led the team beautifully and has done extremely well without the services of regular captain Virat Kohli.

Many cricket experts believe that the 'Hitman; has led the side better than Kohli. The big question remains should Rohit continue the captaincy in limited-overs cricket if he leads team India to Asia Cup title. A lot of factors are there which could go in Rohit's favour.

Let us find out why Virat Kohli should step down as limited-overs captain.

#4 Rohit a more innovative captain

Rohit has been more proactive as a skipper of the team

The major difference between Virat and Rohit's captaincy is trying innovative ways on the field. While the regular skipper goes with the fixed pattern of rotating the bowlers, Rohit does things differently and rotates the bowler according to the situation.

In yesterday's match, the Hitman introduced Yuzvendra Chahal in the 8th over itself and made the breakthrough in his first over. He also used him in the death overs where Bhuvneshwar Kumar was struggling to finish off his overs.

Rohit has been crystal clear about his decisions and has played according to the team's strength. In the first match against Bangladesh, he opted to bowl first while all the other teams have chosen to bat first when won the toss. He backs his decision and gambles in between the overs in search of wickets, which is unlike Kohli.

#3 Major tournament titles

Rohit has captained the Mumbai Indians from IPL 2013 till now

Another facet of the captaincy which set apart both the captains is the major title won by each of them. Kohli has not won any major title under his leadership both for Indian team or Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) while Rohit has won three IPL titles and one Champions League title for Mumbai Indians.

Also, the Hitman has led India to Nidahas Trophy which was tri-series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He has the knack of doing well in bigger tournaments and winning them while his counterpart Virat has lacked the ability to de well.

In IPL, RCB has failed to win any IPL title while in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 India lost the finals. In 2014 Asia Cup, he was the stand-in skipper and failed to qualify for the finals.

Rohit is only step up away from Asia Cup title and if he wins the tournament, this could go as a major achievement under his leadership and will pose a big the question whether he should continue the captaincy or not?

#2 Workload share

Virat will have the luxury to bat freely in the ODI format without any captaincy burden

Many cricket pundits and former captains believe that leading the national team in all the three formats could be a huge workload. As a result, it could take a toll on the captain to manage the workload.

In the past, we have seen many captains struggle to cope with all three formats and also their performance gets affected. Even MS Dhoni gave up the Test captaincy in 2014, owing to his poor Test records overseas, and continued to captain in ODIs.

Similarly, looking at Rohit's progress as a leader might tempt Kohli to rethink about the captaincy in all the three formats. In 2017, it didn't seem that way as he won every series in 2017 but after the overseas tours this year, things have changed drastically.

If Kohli wants to ease his burden of captaincy and focus on only being Test captain, then this will be the perfect time to step down from the limited-overs captaincy and hand the reigns over to Rohit.

#1 Captaincy record

Rohit has been consistent with the bat as a captain of the Indian team

Rohit's captaincy has been brilliant in the ongoing Asia Cup 2018 and has already booked a place in the finals. He has been spot on with his decision and has manipulated well in difficult situations.

As a captain of India, Rohit has an excellent track record, both in T20Is and ODIs. In 9 T20I matches as captain, he has won 8 and lost only one while in 7 ODIs, he has led the Indian team to six victories with a solitary loss to his name. Overall, In 17 matches, he has won 15 and lost only two which is quite commendable.

In the IPL format, he is the first captain to claim three IPL titles and is the second most successful captain behind MS Dhoni with win percentage. With the bat as a captain, he has played better and scored a lot of runs.

In 7 matches, Rohit has scored 486 runs as a captain with an amazing average of 121.50 with two centuries and two half-centuries which includes his famous double century against Sri Lanka. In 9 T20Is, he has scored one century and fifties. Overall, his record is incredible as a captain and is ready to take the over the mantle.