A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official has revealed that the board was set to announce Rohit Sharma as India Test team new skipper, replacing Virat Kohli, who recently resigned from the position after the team's 2-1 defeat in the Test series against South Africa, in which Sharma was away at home due to an injury.
“All the confusion, question in regard to India’s New Test Captain can be laid to rest," the official said. "The BCCI is set to name Rohit Sharma as India’s New TEST Captain. The BCCI will make official announcement right after the tour of South Africa.
“The workload will be immense. He needs to keep himself very agile and fit. I think the selectors will have a word with him. He will have to work to extra-bit on his fitness”
Earlier in September, Kohli gave up his Twenty20 captaincy. Then later in December, he was replaced as the One-Day International (ODI) captain. Opener Sharma replaced him in both formats while he remained the Test team captain until he announced his retirement on Saturday on social media.
"It's been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction," Kohli posted on Twitter. "I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 percent in everything I do, and if I can't do that, I know it's not the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team."
Kohli is statistically India's most successful captain so far with 40 wins in 68 Tests after replacing MS Dhoni in 201 in the middle of a series against Australia.
Sharma said that he was shocked by Virat Kohli's resignation from team India Test captaincy. He took to Instagram to show his love for Kohli who had a "successful stint" as India captain and wished him all the best for his future.
"Shocked!! But congratulations on a successful stint as Indian captain. All the best for the future (Translated from Hindi, per NDTV Sports' translation)," Rohit captioned an Instagram post showing him alongside Kohli.
KL Rahul should be made Test skipper, says Sanjay Jagdale
Former BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale has said that it should be KL Rahul, instead of Sharma, who got to replace Virat Kohli.
"I feel that the next India Test captain should be the one who can take the responsibility for a longer period of time," Jagdale, who also played 53 first-class matches, told PTI. "So accordingly, I would suggest KL Rahul’s name as the next test captain."
The 71-year-old insisted that Rahul was the perfect candidate as he had performed in all three formats of cricket. He also warned the BCCI and the selectors against the IPL "power centres" interfering in the policy-making of Indian cricket.
Jagdale, who was also an office-bearer with Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), then went on to appraise Kohli.
"Nobody can ignore Kohli's contribution in Test cricket," the Indore-based cricket veteran said.
