Published 18:56 IST, November 15th 2020
'Time for Kohli to step down': Nasser Hussain backs Rohit Sharma to be India captain
Nasser Hussain suggested that it might be the time for Virat Kohli to step down as the captain in limited-overs cricket and hand it over to Rohit Sharma
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Ever since Rohit Sharma has lifted the IPL 2020 trophy as the Mumbai skipper, there has been a growing chorus projecting him as the Team India captain in the limited-overs cricket. The proposition which was first suggested by former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has gained traction and triggered a debate on whether Virat Kohli should continue as the skipper across all formats. Now, former England skipper Nasser Hussain has jumped into the debate and backed his contender for India's captain in limited-overs.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Nasser Hussain suggested that it might be the time for Virat Kohli to step down as the captain in limited-overs cricket and hand over the leadership role to his deputy - Rohit Sharma. Hussain backed his choice with Rohit Sharma's success as an IPL captain and also reasoned that his 'captaincy, calm, cool and right decisions' make him the perfect contender.
“His captaincy, he is calm, cool, makes the right decisions at the right time and he has had such a good time with Mumbai that there are various cricketers around the world now, including in India, saying that maybe it is time for Virat [Kohli] to step down from T20s and let Rohit take over. His record speaks for himself,” Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.
Furthermore, Nasser Hussain also stated that Rohit Sharma is one of the 'great white ball players' and has a couple of double hundreds in ODI as well. He highlighted that the Mumbai skipper might have lost a 'bit of rhythm' in T20 but scored runs in the final. Rohit Sharma recently lifted the IPL trophy for the fifth time in history, making him the most successful captain of the league with no other captain winning it more than thrice.
Rohit Sharma's record as India captain
Sharma has also led the Men in Blue in limited-overs cricket whenever Virat Kohli has been absent. India has won 8 of the 10 ODIs under his leadership including a win in the Asia Cup in Dubai in 2018. In T20s, Rohit has a far better record as captain having won 15 of the 19 matches in which he has led. These include victories in the Nidahas tri-series in Sri Lanka in 2018 and a 3-0 series sweep against West Indies at home in 2018.
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir had compared the records of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as leaders of their respective franchises in the IPL as he proposed the name of the Mumbai skipper to take over India captaincy in limited-overs cricket. Gambhir had remarked that it will be the Indian team's loss if Sharma is not appointed as the captain in white-ball cricket or T20 cricket in the near future.
18:56 IST, November 15th 2020