Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar (Source: Twitter)

Former Pakistani speedster, Shoaib Akhtar has put forth his views on whether Rohit Sharma should be made the captain of the Indian team in T20 cricket. Rohit led Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title, and the debate for split captaincy has again taken headlines with several former cricketers and experts giving their opinions.

Rohit, who was handed the MI captaincy mid-season in 2013, won the title that year, followed by victories in 2015, 2017. 2019, and 2020. On the other hand, Virat Kohli doesn’t have a single IPL trophy in his 8-year tenure leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Australia will host India for six white-ball games and four Test matches. The three-match ODI series commences on 27th November followed by 3 T20Is. The high-intensity Border-Gavaskar series will begin on 17th December with a day-night Test in Adelaide followed by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, New Year’s Test in Sydney, and the last Test match in Australia’s fortress, Brisbane.

Aditi Rao Hydari, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli. (Image: Getty)

The BCCI has granted Virat Kohli paternity leave as the skipper and his wife, Anushka Sharma as expecting their first child in early January.  Kohli will leave for home after the Adelaide Test match.

Rohit Sharma is given rest from the limited-overs leg to be fully fit from an injury he sustained in the IPL. He is included in the Test squad and is likely to open with Mayank Agarwal.

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If Rohit does well in Australia, there should be serious discussions on split captaincy: Shoaib Akhtar

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma with the IPL trophy (Credits: IPL)

Shoaib Akhtar believes that if Virat Kohli is fatigued and tired out from playing and leading the team in all three formats, he can consider giving the reins of the T20 team to Rohit. Akhtar said that Kohli has incessantly played at the highest level for a decade and tiredness might seep in.

The former pacer observed some kind of boredom on Kohli’s face in the IPL and reckoned it could be because of living in the bio-bubble for a long time. Akhtar opined that it depends a lot on Kohli if he is willing to step down in T20 cricket because Rohit Sharma is ready to take the leadership duties.

Speaking to PTI, Shoaib Akhtar said, “My take on it is pretty simple. From what I know Virat is very keen to take the team forward. It all depends on how fatigued he is feeling. He has been playing non-stop since 2010, has got 70 centuries and a mountain of runs under his belt. If he is feeling fatigued, then he should think about giving the leadership role to Rohit in one of the formats (preferably T20s).

“I could see the boredom on his face during the IPL, may be it was because of the bio-bubble situation, he seemed a bit stressed out. It all depends on how he feels. Rohit has been ready for captaincy for a while.”    

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma [Photo-Getty]
 Akhtar added that since Kohli will miss three Tests in Australia, it should be Rohit to captain the side and prove himself as a potential leader at the international level. The 45-year-old advises the Mumbai batsman to grab the opportunity with both hands.

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He says that the whole world will be watching Rohit as a batsman and as a captain, and if does well in Australia, it would be a big indication for installing the split captaincy policy in Indian cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar said, “Australia will be his best chance to prove himself as captain. He should grab it with both hands. He has the talent and ability to lead the team. It will be a tough test for India and I would look for these kind of situations as a player.

“The whole world would be looking at Rohit as captain and batsman. If he does well for himself and the team, then there should be a debate about split captaincy.”

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