With Virat Kohli opting to step down as Team India’s captain in the shortest format after the T20 World Cup, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has said that opener Rohit Sharma was the right candidate to captain the former world champions in limited-overs cricket. The 2021 edition of the ICC World T20 turned out to be Kohli’s last major ICC event as captain of the Indian cricket team in white-ball cricket.
Rohit had succeeded Kohli as the T20I captain of the Asian giants prior to India’s first white-ball assignment after the ICC T20 World Cup. In the lead-up to the high-profile Test series between India and hosts South Africa, the veteran opener was also appointed as Kohli’s deputy in the longest and oldest format of the game. Ganguly-led BCCI also confirmed opener Rohit as Team India’s new white-ball captain ahead of the South Africa series.
Speaking on Boria Majumdar’s show Backstage with Boria, Ganguly has explained why Rohit deserves to be India’s captain in the limited-overs format. The BCCI president said that Rohit became the best choice after Kohli decided to relinquish the captaincy in the shortest format. Ganguly also lauded Rohit for making an impressive start as captain of the Indian T20I side.
“Five titles with Mumbai, another one with Deccan Chargers speak volumes of his ability under pressure. Once Virat decided he doesn’t want to be part of T20 leadership, he was the best choice. He started well, beating NZ 3-0 in India. Hopefully, we will see a better result for India next year than what we saw this year,” Ganguly said.
The BCCI chief and former Indian skipper asserted that he was disappointed with Team India’s performance at the ICC World T20 2021. Under Kohli’s leadership, Team India failed to secure their berth for the semi-finals as the 2007 champions were dumped out of the T20 World Cup after devastating defeats at the hands of Pakistan and New Zealand.
“To be honest, in 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup, India was good. We were exceptional in the 2019 World Cup, one bad day and our entire hard work of two months was wiped away. I was disappointed with the way we played this World Cup (T20 WC 2021). It was the poorest we played in the past 4-5 years,” Ganguly added.
