T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma declared selfish, weak link, and not an ideal captain as ex-KKR team director launches attack

Former KKR team director Joy Bhattacharjya made a massive claim ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. He believes that appointing Rohit Sharma as the captain of the team may hamper the side as the senior batter is not the ideal choice.

Rohit Sharma will be captaining the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, set to be played in June later this year. After the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, there was no clarity related to the place of the opener in the team. He wasn't part of the team for almost a year.

In his absence, youngsters got the opportunity and there were many speculations that he won't be playing in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, Rohit Sharma made a return to the team earlier this year in the series against Afghanistan and made an immediate statement, slamming a century in the third game.

After that, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed that Rohit Sharma will be captaining the team in the tournament. The batter since then has looked in ominous touch and is scoring runs in the IPL 2024. The opening batter has slammed over 300 runs in the tournament and is amongst the leading run-getters.

Joy Bhattacharjya, however, isn't happy with Rohit Sharma leading the team in the T20 World Cup 2024. He believes that having the Mumbai Indians batter in the team means one of the in-form batters in Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill will have to bat down the order. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he explained: 

"The decision to appoint Rohit Sharma as India’s captain for the T20 World Cup may have hampered the team. At this point, Sharma is not the ideal choice to lead the team in the T20I format I have the utmost respect for Rohit Sharma and I think he is an amazing cricketer.

"However, he is currently out of batting form. Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill are in better form right now and are strong contenders for the opening positions. However, since Sharma is the captain, he will open, meaning one of those in-form players will have to bat lower down the order."

I would choose Jasprit Bumrah over Rohit Sharma as captain - Joy Bhattacharjya

Joy Bhattacharjya further made a bold claim, saying that he would prefer Jasprit Bumrah as captain of the Indian team over Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup 2024. He believes that the senior opener wants to end his career on high by winning the title. He added: 

"I would choose Jasprit Bumrah over Rohit Sharma as captain because Bumrah’s skill as a bowler makes him a vital member of the team. Rohit has achieved everything in cricket, but there’s one thing he needs to do; win a World Cup. He won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and wants to end his career on a high note, we call it book-ending. That’s a great thought."

With the deadline to announce the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 is 1st May, it is expected that the Indian team for the tournament is likely to be announced in the coming week.