Steve Harmison, the former England pacer while weighing in on BCCI handing India’s ODI captaincy from Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma, has asked whether now was the right time.
While speaking to former Australia spinner Brad Hogg in a video on his YouTube channel, Steve Harmison quipped that it is important Virat Kohli remains the Test skipper and also wondered whether the timing was right.
Steve Harmison: Virat Kohli Just Wants To Play
Virat Kohli opted to step down as the Indian team’s T20I captain after the T20 World Cup. The selectors decided not to retain him as ODI captain as well and passed on the reins of the team to Rohit Sharma in both white-ball formats.
“I think Virat’s at a point now where he probably just wants to play. I think it’s so important that for international Test match cricket that he keeps his captaincy because I think he drives Test match cricket in the right way. It’s very important to him; he speaks about it passionately and he cares about it,” said Steve Harmison.
“And in the world of T20 and all these franchise leagues around the world, I think having a leader of a powerful nation like India wanting and driving Test cricket forward is a great thing for international cricket,” said Steve Harmison.
Virat Kohli, who was handed the reins for the final Test match against Australia on the 2014-15 tour from MS Dhoni, has led India in 66 Tests which is the most by an Indian skipper so far. Under Virat Kohli, India has won 39 Test matches. Under Virat Kohli, India has been the most consistent Test side over the past five years or so.
Team India has won eight of the ten ODI games they have played under Rohit Sharma. The Mumbaikar has also won 18 of 22 matches as captain in the shortest format of the game. Mumbai Indians-the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL has won five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020, all under Rohit Sharma’s leadership.
His predecessor Virat Kohli has been one of India’s most successful white-ball captains. In 95 ODIs, he won 65, giving him a winning percentage of 70-plus.
Steve Harmison: It’s Just The Right Time For Virat Kohli To Pass The Captaincy Baton On To Rohit Sharma In Limited Overs
But Virat Kohli failed to lead the team to an ICC title win – India lost to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, was defeated by New Zealand in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final, and suffered a group-stage exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
“From a one-dayer point of view, it’s an embarrassment of rich. This team that India’s got now in one-day cricket is near if not as good as England’s pool of one-day players is to play that side so that format of the game,” said Steve Harmison.
“I just think is it the right time for him to pass the baton on to Rohit and say look, “it’s your team now, 50 overs and 20 overs. You set the benchmark. You go out front and lead and I’ll just drop back into being one of the lieutenants and play Test match cricket as a leader”? I think it’s the right time,” elaborated Steve Harmison.
Virat Kohli’s next test will be against South Africa, where his team will play three Tests, the first of which is slated to begin on December 26.