Former Indian Spinner Harbhajan Singh believes going back to Indian maestro Virat Kohli as a captain in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma is not a way forward as the management should try to develop new leaders to take the Indian cricket forward.
The Men in Blue had the most number of captains in the year 2022, with Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah leading the team in the absence of their regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who missed out on numerous matches owing to injuries last year.
Earlier, Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri said that Indian management should ask Virat Kohli to lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, as he got the experience to lead the team in the big tournaments. Sharing about his views,about Shastri’s take on Indian Captain Harbhajan Singh feels that it would backward move by the team, though Kohli has been a great captain for India in home and overseas conditions.
“This will be like taking a huge step back (making Kohli a fill-in captain). If you keep moving back, how will you move forward? Not that Virat was a bad captain. Till the time he was in charge, Virat was brilliant. Look at this record – the Test wins at home and overseas – it speaks for itself. He’s delivered the results too. But I definitely believe that if Rohit is not playing or is injured or whatever be the reason, we should look at someone else,” Harbhajan Singh said.
After Rohit Sharma took charge as India’s all-formats captain in January of 2022, he missed the ODI series in South Africa, the rescheduled fifth Test against England, and the Test series in Bangladesh due to injury and he also missed a few series due to workload management.
It Will Send An Indication That We Haven’t Prepared The Next Captain – Harbhajan Singh
After the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, India hasn’t picked Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the T20 team, as Hardik Pandya was given the responsibility to lead the side in the absence of a regular skipper, which potentially makes him the candidate for a white-ball skipper in the future.
Virat Kohli has led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the absence of Faf du Plessis in IPL 2023 for a few games and Harbhajan feels that it would right move for Virat to take charge in big games but not in the bilateral series where the young leaders can be tested for the future.
“If it comes to the one-off match, then yes, Virat can take charge. But not otherwise. If it’s a big match like a WTC final, why not? But if you look at a 4-match series where Rohit is not available, then that is the time to invest in a new captain. But if you go back to Virat in a long series, that is not a step in the right direction. Firstly, Virat won’t do it, and even if he does, it will send an indication that we haven’t prepared the next captain.”
Earlier, it was widely reported that Virat Kohli was not interested to lead the Indian team in the rescheduled team as Indian management went with Jasprit Bumrah, where the Indian team lost the game against the formidable England side.