Mumbai: Rohit Sharma was on Tuesday officially anointed India’s new T20 captain replacing Virat Kohli, who has been rested from the three-match series against New Zealand starting November 17 in Jaipur.
The new-look team has IPL 2021’s highest run-getter Ruturaj Gaikwad and top wicket-taker Harshal Patel in the squad of 16 along with Venkatesh Iyer, who is seen as a potential all-round replacement for the injury-ravaged Hardik Pandya.
Pandya has been dropped from the squad after failing to make an impact during the T20 World Cup. Ruturaj has already played for India in the Sri Lanka series. Senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got his place in the squad back while Mohammed Siraj, who has played a few T20Is in the past, is also in the mix. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar, who were in the T20 World Cup reserves, are now in the main squad.
Rohit’s appointment was a formality and KL Rahul will be his new deputy in shortest format. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami as well as Ravindra Jadeja have also been given much-needed rest for the short series. However, Pandya, who didn’t provide an honest picture of his fitness status, has been dropped.
Former cricket great Sunil Gavaskar has backed Rohit Sharma to do well as Team India captain in T20Is, saying that the Indian team management doesn’t have to think long-term in terms of appointment to the role. Gavaskar pointed out that the next edition of the T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in 2022. Virat Kohli’s tenure as T20I skipper ended with a disappointing T20 World Cup in the UAE. Citing workload concerns, Kohli, ahead of the T20 World Cup, announced that he would relinquish the T20I captaincy after the tournament. Rohit was on Tuesday named captain for the T20I series against New Zealand this month.
The legendary batter also highlighted the 34-year-old’s excellent record in the Indian Premier League, having guided Mumbai Indians to a record five titles.
Long term is in case the next World Cup is maybe two or three years away. The next World Cup (T20) is just 10-12 months away. You don’t really have to look long term then, said Gavaskar.
But right now, you have to look at the best man who can guide India to an ICC trophy. And that man is Rohit Sharma with his record for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, he is the obvious choice. So, I think, he should be given the captaincy and maybe after the next year’s World Cup is done in Australia, maybe have a look at another T20 captain, but right now it’s only Rohit, he added.
Apart from three T20Is, India will also host New Zealand in two Tests in Kanpur and Mumbai. However, India’s squad for the two-match Test series is yet to be announced.
INDIA’S T20I SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj