Rohit Sharma Should Replace Virat Kohli As India's T20 Captain Ahead Of T20 World Cup - Monty Panesar

Former England spinner Monty Panesar opines that Virat Kohli should be scrapped of India’s T20 captaincy and be given to Rohit Sharma as the T20 World Cup looms on the horizon.

Under Virat Kohli now India have lost three ICC knockout matches – the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the 2019 World Cup semi-final, and the latest in the list, the 2021 ICC WTC final.

With Rohit Sharma achieving immense success with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL – 5 IPL titles since 2013 while zero for Virat Kohli at the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the same time – and also leading India to victories in the Asia Cup and Nidahas Trophy, the calls for split captaincy have only gained weight.

Monty Panesar reckons that if India loses the upcoming 5-Test series against England, and also the T20 World Cup, then immense pressure will mount over Virat Kohli, so, the former spinner believes, it would be better off to load off the pressure of the Indian skipper by making Rohit the short-format captain.

“Well I think T20 captaincy probably should be given to Rohit Sharma, he does really well for Mumbai Indians,” Monty Panesar told CricBouncer.

“You know Virat Kohli is under pressure here because if his team doesn’t perform in the five-match series against England and loses ICC T20 World Cup 2021 then you know what will happen,” he added.

Will bring in the right people who have the right mindset to perform: Virat Kohli

After the loss to New Zealand in Southampton, Virat Kohli had indicated that there will changes in the personnel for the England Test series. The skipper wants to “bring in right people who have right mindset to perform” for the 5 Tests against Joe Root’s side. He also hailed the unprecedented depth in the quality of players they have – India will send a second-string squad to challenge Sri Lanka in 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is next month.

“We will not wait for a year or so and have to plan ahead. If you see our white-ball team now, we have great depth and guys are ready and confident. Same thing needs to be done with Test cricket.

“You have to reassess and replan and understand what dynamics work for the team and how we can be fearless. Bring in right people who have right mindset to perform,” Virat Kohli said at the post-match presentation after the WTC final.

Also Read: Everyone Has Contributed In This WTC Journey: Sourav Ganguly On Team India’s Incredible Performance Throughout The WTC Cycle