Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has weighed in on BCCI’s decision to appoint Rohit Sharma as ODI captain in place of Rohit Sharma. Butt is already impressed with his intelligence and calmness shown on the field.
On his YouTube Channel, Salman Butt was reacting to Rohit Sharma’s interview which was released by BCCI a couple of days back.
“Rohit Sharma is countering every point very intelligently. There are all kinds of talks floating on social media w.r.t. to the send-off given to Kohli. Rohit Sharma has all the credentials (to take over the captaincy job); he is an outstanding player and a great captain and he was bound to take over next.” said Salman Butt.
“It makes sense to have only a single captain in white-ball cricket. Somewhere down the line, Virat Kohli will also understand this. They have been the captain and vice-captain for several years. There should be no issue if they back each other.”
“Kohli has raised the bar of Indian cricket with his intensity.”- Salman Butt
Butt also lauded the fact how the Indian team has blossomed under the leadership of Virat Kohli. In 95 ODIs as captain, Virat Kohli has a winning % of 70.43 which is the highest among Indian captains.
“Rohit Sharma is trying to keep everything calm and cool. What he has said is also true as Kohli has raised the bar of Indian cricket with his intensity,” he further said.
Rohit Sharma in his interview with BCCI.TV spoke on various aspects for his captaincy as he would like to keep the atmosphere light and chilled which would make players relaxed to express themselves. He also expressed the joy of working with newly appointed coach Rahul Dravid.
However, Salman Butt believes that Rohit Sharma as captain would be a short term replacement as he is already 34 and by the ODI World Cup 2023, he would be 36.
“Sharma could just be a short-term captain. Being 34 years old, the player is expected to play for only the next 3-4 years. I don’t think any other player was ready apart from Sharma for the captaincy role at the moment,” Butt said.
Also Read: “Calm And Composed Rohit Sharma Led India Well In Virat Kohli’s Absence”- Sarandeep Singh