“Difficult that Virat Kohli would be able to keep his ODI captaincy” – Reports

“Difficult that Virat Kohli would be able to keep his ODI captaincy” – Reports

Virat Kohli

After convincingly winning the two-match Test series 1-0 against New Zealand, the Indian team will now fly to South Africa. The Virat Kohli-led side will begin this away tour with the first red-ball match later this month. 

Team India is also scheduled to play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) where Rohit Sharma will be seen in the captaincy. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) has expressed their keenness to appoint Sharma as captain in the 50-over matches as well.

However, in a recent media interaction, a BCCI official reckoned that the South Africa series might get more time for Rohit to prepare and lead the team in the 2023 ICC World Cup. 

“As of now, it looks difficult that Virat would be able to keep his ODI captaincy but since ODI isn’t important this year with very few matches here and there, one can think of delaying the decision,” a senior BCCI source told PTI.

“But the counter-argument is that why do you want to have separate ideas for two formats and if the majority of people in charge of making decisions feel that Rohit is the man going forward and will get time to prepare a team for the 2023 event,” he said.

“Ajinkya Rahane likely to be removed as vice-captain”

Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane, who missed out on the second and final Test match against the Kiwis, might be sacked from the vice-captaincy role ahead of the SA series. If this happens, Rohit Sharma will be appointed as the deputy of Kohli.

“Obviously, he is going to South Africa but had he not got injured, there was a high chance of him getting dropped from the eleven. So if he is not a sure-shot starter, how can he remain the deputy. If Rahane is removed from vice-captaincy, Rohit is the obvious choice. He was in fact vice-captain in the Australia Test series in the last two games,” the official said.

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