Rajeev Shukla, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice-President is not impressed by the latest rumours of Team India looking at a change of captain in the limited-overs format after the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman. Rajeev Shukla is unimpressed by the latest rumours that regular skipper Virat Kohli will step down from limited-overs format after the T20I World Cup.
Reports have been doing the rounds that Rohit Sharma could take over at the end of the showpiece event and Virat Kohli could continue as the Test captain and focus on his batting.
Rajeev Shukla Urges Indian Team To Focus On The 2021 T20I World Cup
Rajeev Shukla said while there is no truth to this rumour, it is important the team focuses on the showpiece’s event rather than getting distracted by such news.
“There is nothing to this rumour. Also, let’s focus on the T20 World Cup rather than playing soothsayer and predicting the future, ” Rajeev Shukla said.
“There have been no talks on split captaincy,” Rajeev Shukla said.
The Indian national selectors last Wednesday picked the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. There were inputs from Rohit Sharma as well as the deputy of the limited-overs team and that seems to have led to talks of split captaincy post the World Cup.
One of India’s most successful captains, Virat Kohli led India in 95 ODIs, and with 65 wins and 27 defeats. In 45 T20Is so far where he has been the captain, India has won 27 times while losing 14 times. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, 34, has led India 10 times in ODIs and led them to victories on eight occasions. In T20Is, he has captained them 19 times of which they have won 15 and lost four.
Rohit Sharma is in the form of his life across formats and enjoys the status of a senior member of the squad. His T20 captaincy records are second to none, having won five IPL titles for the Mumbai Indians apart from Asia Cup and Nidhas Trophy 2018 wins in Virat Kohli’s absence.
Ravichandran Ashwin Stages A Comeback Into World Cup Squad After Playing His Last T20I In 2017
Coming back to the squad, in a surprise move, Ravichandran Ashwin has been included in the team which will begin its campaign in the showpiece event against arch-rivals Pakistan. He had last played a T20I against West Indies in July 2017. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal missed out as veteran former skipper MS Dhoni will be the mentor of the team.
While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has the hosting rights, the tournament has been moved out of the country with an eye on the COVID-19 pandemic. India will start its campaign against Pakistan. India and Pakistan will be locking horns on October 24 in a group-stage encounter. The tournament will get underway from October 17, with the final to be played in Dubai on November 14.
The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prithvi Shaw, and Yuzvendra Chahal were some notable omissions from the World Cup squad. India is placed in the Group B of the tournament alongside Pakistan, New Zealand, and Afghanistan.
Full squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami; Stand-by: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur