If rumours are to be believed, it is Virat Kohli and not MS Dhoni who will be seen as the ODI skipper for the upcoming home series of India versus South Africa’s national cricket team.
Though nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but there is a wind of change in the BCCI selection committee as the majority are supporting the aggressive young test captain to take over the driver’s seat in the limited over format as well.
To pick the squad for the much-awaited series, the selection committee is expected to meet around the 15th of September and only then will it be confirmed if the speculations are correct. An inside source revealed that the committee thinks the conflicting approach of both the skippers towards the game might hamper the team’s mental set-up and that is the main reason behind choosing Kohli ahead of Dhoni for the series.
“Even in the previous selection meeting there were talks about Kohli being named the captain for all formats. But it is also worth keeping in mind that Dhoni is the most successful India captain ever and Kohli is just finding his feet as far as captaincy goes. With India set to play mainly at home next year, it will only be an advantage for Kohli to take over the reins now rather than in an away series,” the same source added.
While there is a question mark for the ODI captaincy, Dhoni will still be serving as the T20 captain for India until the 2016 T20 World Cup and the South Africa series as well, looking at the fact that he has played a major role in enhancing the team’s performance in the 20 overs format over the year and is very much experienced and successful in the same. The T20 matches in the South Africa series are being expected to prove beneficial ahead of the World Cup.
The much-awaited series between India and South Africa is starting from the 2nd of October. The series includes three T20 matches, five ODIs and four test matches.