IND vs NZ: Indian Captaincy Had Become Musical Chairs"- Rajkumar Sharma Identifies The Primary Causes For The Selection Committee's Dismissal

Rajkumar Sharma, Virat Kohli’s former coach, believes that the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee failed to assemble a reliable Indian team and did a particularly terrible job when it came to captaincy-related issues.

He claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India fired them as a result of these two things, along with a few other errors (BCCI). 

Just a few days after the Men in Blue suffered a 10-wicket setback to England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal in Adelaide, the Indian Cricket Board issued an invitation for applications for new selectors. 

 Selectors Could Not Put Together A Stable Team: Rajkumar Sharma

Sharma is optimistic that the new committee won’t make the same mistakes as the previous one because the search for new selectors is already under way. The 57-year-old commented on India News as follows: 

“We had changed around eight captains in 10 months. This is one of the reasons I feel the selection committee has been dissolved by BCCI. They couldn’t put together a stable team. There was no clarity over who would be captain in each format. 

“Indian captaincy had become musical chairs. It’s unfortunate. Hopefully, the new selection committee comes in with a clear mindset.” 

Very Important To Handle Hardik Pandya Carefully: Saba Karim

Former India goalkeeper Saba Karim weighed in on the captaincy discussion by pointing out that it will be difficult to get Hardik Pandya to take over as the team’s permanent captain given his history of fitness difficulties. He elaborated: 

“The big question about Hardik is, if he plays both white-ball formats, how long can he survive? Given his history of fitness worries, it is very important to handle him carefully. If he has to play the World Cup, then needs to be given breaks in between. 

“Then again, if this mode of thinking is applied, he cannot be made white-ball captain. The main question that the new selection committee will need to answer is – who will lead India in the 2023 World Cup and also who will be his deputy?” 

Pandya was rested for the ODIs despite leading India to a 1-0 victory in the three-match T20I series in New Zealand. The Men in Blue will be led by Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI games. 

 Rishabh Pant Should Be In The Indian ODI Team: Reetinder Singh Sodhi

Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper-batsman for Team India, has drawn criticism for his repeated mistakes in T20Is. Reetinder Singh Sodhi thinks that his performance in another format shouldn’t have a bearing on whether he makes the ODI selection. 

In support of the vice-(for captain’s the New Zealand series) inclusion in the ODI starting XI, Sodhi said: 

“If you are talking about the ODI team, Pant should definitely be there. He has struggled a lot in T20Is, but in ODIs, he deserves the opportunity. That time has not come yet, where we have to think of whether or not we should include our vice-captain in the playing XI in our one-day team.” 

The last time Pant played an ODI, he smashed 125* off 113 balls against England in Manchester in July 2022. 

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