No need for India to implement split captaincy, opines Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar has batted for Kohli to hold captaincy in all three formats
|Renowned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar is of the opinion that India should continue with Virat Kohli as the captain of the side in all three formats and stated that there is no need for the team to do otherwise. Manjrekar stated that all-round Kohli is the right man at the helm for all formats.
Virat Kohli, since 2017, has been at the helm of the Indian side in all three formats and taking his batting to a completely different altogether aside, the right-hander has also been a pretty good leader. While India have not won an ICC trophy under Kohli’s captaincy, the side has, however, been consistent over the years in coloured clothing and also held the number one position in Tests for over three years.
However, despite Kohli’s able record as captain, a combination of the workload on him coupled with Rohit Sharma’s impeccable performance as a standing skipper has seen cries for split captaincy get louder and louder, with many believing that Kohli should step aside from ODIs and T20Is, or at least the latter, and leave the job to the Mumbaikar.
But one person who is strongly against the argument is renowned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, who batted for Kohli to retain his place as captain in all three formats. Manjrekar is of the opinion that India doesn’t need multiple captains, for the simple reason that Kohli has been doing an exceptional job in all three formats.
"My theory on split captaincy is that you don't go looking for split captains," Manjrekar said during his show 'Ask Sanjay' on his YouTube channel.
"So if you are fortunate to have a captain who is good in all three formats and still is a good captain then you don't need split captaincy and at the moment we have got Virat Kohli who is excellent in all three formats so there is no need for India to have split captaincy."
According to Manjrekar, a country should explore the possibility of split captains only when they have at the helm a cricketer incapable of excelling in multiple formats - which is not the case with Kohli. The 54-year-old stated that India are ‘blessed’ to have someone like a Kohli at the helm and pointed out how in the past, Dhoni similarly marshalled the troops in all three formats.
"There might come a time in future when India will go for it but it is not something that you seek. If there is a situation when India have an excellent Test captain and Test player but not good enough to be in 50-over format or T20Is then maybe you have a different captain but India at the moment is quite blessed.
"In the past as well when Dhoni was captaining in all formats because he was good in all formats."
