The speculation was going on. Who will be the captain of the national Test team after Virat Kohli? The Indian Cricket Board put an end to that speculation. Chetan Sharma, the chief selector of India’s senior team, has announced that Rohit Sharma will be the next captain of Team India in Tests.
The tour of South Africa was Virat Kohli’s last series as Test captain. Kohli has said he will step down as Test captain. Rohit did not play in the Test series against South Africa due to injury.
When India were playing a three-match Test series against south Africa, Rohit was in Bangalore. He was undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy. Kohli did not play in the second Test of the series against South Africa. KL Rahul led the Indian team in that match. From then on, speculation started as to who would be India’s next Test captain. Rohit Sharma? Or KL Rahul?
Some officials of the Indian Cricket Board have been saying that Rohit’s weight is heavy. However, in limited overs cricket, Hitman is the captain in both formats. After that, they thought that the leadership in the Tests could be a pressure on Rohit.
They said that it was very important to keep the cricketers mentally strong as they had to play the series from the bio-bubble. In that case, they thought that captaining in three formats could put a lot of pressure on Rohit.
Therefore, some peoples have been saying that Rohit should be the captain in ODIs and T20s and the baton should be handed over to Rahul in Tests. It is also said that Rahul will be able to lead the Test team for a long time due to his young age. That will not be the case with Rohit.
The chief selector put an end to all speculations. Chetan Sharma said, ‘It is not possible to say when someone will get injured. However, if Rohit is fit, he will be the captain in those three formats. Someone else’s name was discussed? Chetan says, “No, there was no discussion about making anyone captain except Rohit.”
India’s squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Mayank Agarawal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Bihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), and Ashwin ( If fit), Rabindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Sourav Kumar.
