Need to groom someone who plays all three formats, says Saba Karim on Team India captaincy
Former India cricketer Saba Karim has said that the national team should groom someone who plays all three formats for the leadership role as Virat Kohli relinquished his captaincy in Test cricket. Karim also praised Rohit Sharma saying that the Indian opener earned respect from his performances.
Virat Kohli recently stepped down from the Test captaincy role after Team India suffered a 1-2 defeat against South Africa in the three-match Test series. Kohli had earlier relinquished his T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021, and later the 33-year-old was sacked from the ODI leadership role ahead of the South Africa tour.
Rohit Sharma replaced Kohli as India's skipper in the white-ball format, and Kohli continued to lead the national side in Test cricket. However, the India middle-order batsman shocked the entire cricket fraternity with his decision, and the selectors will announce the new Test captain ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka in February.
India will also play the T20 World Cup this year in Australia, and the Men in Blue will be looking forward to ending their drought for the ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. In 2023, India will feature in the ODI World Cup, and the World Test Championship (WTC) final is also scheduled for the same year.
Sharing his view regarding the captaincy of the Indian team, Saba Karim thinks that the team management should groom someone who plays all three formats.
"They need to groom someone who plays all three formats. Right now, Rohit is the only option because no one like a KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant has been groomed,” Karim said on the Khelneeti Podcast.
"Even if Rohit Sharma is appointed captain in all three formats, it will be a short-term assignment. 2023 is a very important year for Indian cricket. We have the 50-over World Cup and the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle will also end. They need to look at this phase first.”
Karim heaped praise on Rohit, and stated that the Indian opener has earned respect through his stellar performances. The former Indian cricketer further added that last year Rohit conquered the challenge in the Test series in England brilliantly.
"He has earned that respect from his performances. His presence and work ethic is commanding. The England Test series was a challenge for Rohit but he conquered that as well. Keeping all this aside, the biggest challenge for Rohit is whether he is fit," he concluded.
"Leaving alone leading, even playing all three formats is a huge task for him. He has been injured multiple times and even now he is returning from rehab. The physio, trainers and everyone involved with his fitness needs to be consulted before making such a big decision. We cannot have a captain who gets injured at the start of a Test series.”
Rohit will lead India in the home series against the West Indies consisting of three ODIs and as many T20Is, which starts with the first 50-over fixture on February 6 in Ahmedabad.
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