T20 World Cup 2021 | Split captaincy is need of the hour due to bubble fatigue, says Ravi Shastri

India won their last Super 12s fixture at T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia by nine wickets, to mark the end of an otherwise disappointing campaign. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja starred with the ball to bag three wickets each, helping India restrict the opponents to 132/8, before openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma scored half centuries in the chase.

That marked an end to Virat Kohli's stint as India T20I captain, after he had already announced of stepping down from the role two months ago. Head coach Ravi Shastri too, parts ways alongside other coaching staff members, with Rahul Dravid set to take over ahead of India's home series against New Zealand.

Citing bio-bubble fatigue in a tough cricketing calendar, Shastri opined that split captaincy is the need of the hour.

“Split captaincy is the need of the hour due to bubble fatigue, the amount of cricket played these days. Players need to be rotated. You don’t get to see your parents for 6 months,” Shastri told reporters after India's win.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are likely candidates to take over as India's T20I captain, with the former being the frontrunner given his experience and success as an IPL captain. Shastri marked Rohit as a capable personnel for the role. 

“In Rohit, we have got a capable guy, he has won so many IPL titles. He has been the vice-captain of this side for a long time,” he remarked.

India lost their first two fixtures against Pakistan and New Zealand at the T20 World Cup, which significantly dented their semi-final hopes. They'd headed into the tournament right after the IPL 2021 second half, which was preceded by a long England tour. Shastri stated that the players were drained mentally and physically spending six months in bio-bubble.

“I am mentally drained but I expect that at my age, but these guys are physically and mentally drained. Six months in a bubble...What we would have ideally liked was a bigger gap between the IPL and the T20 World Cup...(because) when the big games come, when pressure hits you, you are not that switched on as you should be" Shastri said.

Shastri said that India lacked an X-factor in the competition and added that the team needed a batsman who could bowl a bit.

"It's not an excuse, we take defeat and we are not scared of losing. In trying to win, you will lose a game, but here we didn't try to win because that X-factor was missing. Earlier, we used to have guys in the top six, who were able to roll their arms in the middle overs. That is the area, where we need to work,” he said.