Rohit Sharma's biggest challenge as all-format India captain is managing players amid gruelling schedule, feels Sunil Gavaskar

Rohit Sharma's tenure as the permanent captain of India has got off to a perfect start. After completing a 3-0 sweep against New Zealand in a three-match T20I series last November, Rohit returned from a hamstring injury to lead India to the same scoreline against West Indies in both the ODI and T20I series this month.

Riding on an impressive run, India rose to the No. 1 spot in the ICC T20I rankings. They will next play against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, followed by a two-match Test series, starting from February 24 in Lucknow and will run till March 16. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, meanwhile, is set to begin from the final week of March.

India will also play the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, and before that, they will play five T20Is against South Africa, and a Test match and five T20Is against England.

Following India’s recent success, the cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar stated that Rohit’s “biggest challenge” as captain will be to keep the players fit and ready mentally and physically in the upcoming hectic schedule.

While speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “I think the challenge is getting the players to play at their highest as far as their mental and physical conditioning is concerned because there is so much of cricket which not just the Indian team is playing but the international cricket.

"There is going to be 2 months of IPL and then 5 T20Is against South Africa and then that one-off Test in England followed by a T20I series there. It's a grueling schedule. So how to manage the players as far as their form and fitness are concerned. That's going to be the biggest challenge for Rohit and the team management."

Rohit will be leading India for the first time in red-ball cricket in the Test-series against Sri Lanka.