The BCCI recently left everyone shocked with their decision to replace Shikhar Dhawan with KL Rahul as the captain for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. Dhawan recently led India against West Indies and guided the team to a crushing 3-0 win over the hosts. He was also named as the captain of the second-string Indian side for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.
The BCCI, however, recently decided to demote him as the vice-captain of the team while announcing the return of KL Rahul. The Indian cricket board gave Rahul the green signal to return to action through the upcoming series and also named him the captain of the team. Rahul is gearing up to play his first international series since February.
BCCI’s decision to replace Dhawan has not gone down well with many and now former India selector Saba Karima has also expressed his disappointment over the same. Speaking to India News Sports, Karim questioned the logic behind naming Rahul as the skipper who was returning to the Indian side after a long break from injury recovery.
“KL Rahul should have played the series only as a member, making him captain or vice-captain is not that important. He is coming after a long break. Shikhar Dhawan is a senior member of the squad who has delivered in white-ball cricket. You have to give him importance once you make the announcement as captain,” he said.
Saba Karim praises Shikhar Dhawan:
The former India cricketer also had some words of praise for Shikhar Dhawan. Karim lauded Dhawan for his captaincy during the 3-0 win over West Indies last month. Dhawan led from the very front and scored two half-centuries in three innings.
“I would like to add that Shikhar led the side very well against West Indies in the ODI series. He was also decent with the bat. India whitewashed the series with a bunch of youngsters. A lot of them performed very well under his captaincy. Dhawan looked in complete control, whether it was the field setup, tactics, or strategy. He inspired the youngsters as a leader,” he said.
Speaking further, Karim stated that such decisions tends to affect the morale of a player. Karim opined how a player starts thinking about the plans and strategies after being named the captain and the abrupt decision like removing him as the captain affects him mentally.
“The kind of change in captaincy trend is strange and questionable. Such decisions need to be taken very cautiously. There is no need to rush as it is associated with a team environment, you need to build the team spirit. A captain begins to think about his plans for upcoming matches and then you suddenly make a change. It affects the morale of the cricketer,” he said.