Virat Kohli is still a leader of the team, says Rohit Sharma after being appointed as ODI captain

12/09/2021

India’s new limited-overs captain, Rohit Sharma has stated that Virat Kohli is still a leader of the team, and his presence is very important in the squad. Rohit further heaped praise on Kohli, and reckoned that he has bailed out India many times from difficult situations with his batting.

T20 World Cup 2021 turned out to be a disappointing campaign for India, and Virat Kohli stepped down from T20I captaincy and Rohit Sharma was handed reigns of the T20I team. In a recent development on Wednesday, December 8, the BCCI appointed Rohit as the new ODI captain, and the Indian opener take over the role from Virat Kohli during the South Africa tour. Rohit has also been appointed as Kohli's deputy in Test cricket.

Kohli has notched up 5449 runs including 21 centuries as captain in ODIs. He is fourth in the list of most ODI wins by an Indian captain. Kohli led India in 49 T20Is winning 29 of them. In ODIs, he led India in 95 matches and won 65 of them and lost 27. Rohit stated that Kohli is a quality batsman, and his presence is very important to the squad.

"The quality and his kind of batsmanship is required. Plus, he is still a leader of the team. All those things put together, you don’t want to miss out. You don’t want to ignore that kind of stuff. His presence is very important to the team," said Rohit on the show 'Backstage with Boria', organised by veteran sports journalist Boria Majumdar.

Kohli has so far scored 12169 ODI runs from 254 matches at an average of 59.07. Also, he has 3227 T20I runs in 94 matches at an average of 52.05.

Rohit further added that Kohli has bailed India out many times from difficult situations with his batting excellence.

"A batter of Kohli's quality is always needed in the squad. To have an average of 50 plus in the T20 format, it is crazy and unreal. Obviously, with the experience.He has batted and bailed India out so many times from difficult situations,” he concluded.

Rohit will now lead the India team for a three-match ODI series in South Africa