‘I want to see Rohit Sharma as captain..’: Gautam Gambhir after reports of him shunning cricket’s shortest format

According to Gambhir, both Rohit and Virat Kohli should be picked for the T20 World Cup. He also added that if they are picked then Rohit should be the captain and not Hardik Pandya.

“They both need to get picked, both should be picked. More importantly, I want to see Rohit Sharma as captain in the T20 World Cup. Yes, Hardik has been captaining in T20Is but I would still want to see Rohit as captain in the World Cup. Don’t pick Rohit Sharma only as a batter. Rohit is a phenomenal leader, he has proved that with his leadership and batting in this ODI World Cup. If you are picking Rohit, which you should then he should be selected as a captain who can bat. And Virat also should be an automatic choice,” Hindustan Times quoted Gautam Gambhir saying at a panel discussion of Sportskeeda.

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Apart from Gambhir, even legendary Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram also shared similar thoughts. “There are barely six months to go for the T20 World Cup. I will pick both Rohit and Kohli. They are the main players for the team. You need a bit of experience even in T20s, can’t build a team with only youngsters,” he said.

What did reports say about Rohit?

According to a PTI report, released on 22 November, a senior BCCI official had said that the 36-year-old India skipper has himself volunteered to stay away from T20Is.

ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma wants to focus on red-ball cricket, may shun playing T20Is in near future: Report

“It is not a new development. Rohit hasn’t played any T20Is in the past year as the focus was on the ODI World Cup. He had extensive discussions with the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar in this regard. He has himself volunteered to stay away from T20Is. It has completely been Rohit’s call,” PTI quoted a senior BCCI official as saying.

Rohit hasn’t played a single game in the shortest format since India’s T20 World Cup semi-final exit in November 2022 and Hardik Pandya has mostly led the Indian team in T20Is from that time.

According to stats, he has played 148 T20Is and scored 3853 runs at a strike rate of nearly 140 with four centuries. The selectors or the BCCI brass may ask Rohit to reconsider his current stand if the younger players fail to perform.

However, it may be understood that Rohit would like to manage his workload at this stage of his career and ensure that he remains mostly injury-free for the remainder of his career.

With agency inputs.

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Updated: 23 Nov 2023, 04:16 PM IST