Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian batsman, believes it will be a “disgrace” and a “disgrace to Indian cricket” if Rohit Sharma is not considered for the full-time white ball captaincy in the future.
Gambhir spoke at ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out shortly after Sharma led the Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL crown, beating the capitals of Delhi for five wickets in Dubai. In addition to making his mark as captain on the field, Sharma ended the chase by scoring a 68 for an easy victory.
“If Rohit Sharma does not become the captain of India, it is his loss, not Rohit’s,” Gambhir said. “Yes, a captain is only as good as his team and I completely agree with that, but what are the parameters for judging a captain on who is good and who is not? The parameters and the benchmark should be the same. Rohit has led his team to five IPL titles. “
Gambhir had previously spoken at the tournament of the need for Virat Kohli, the current captain of India in all formats, to be responsible for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have yet to win an IPL title in 13 seasons; Kohli has been a captain in eight of those seasons. The franchise has made the playoffs only three times under Kohli’s captaincy; this year, they crashed in the Eliminator to finish the tournament with five consecutive losses.
“We keep saying that MS Dhoni is the most successful captain in India. Why? Because he has won two World Cups and three IPLs,” Gambhir said. “Rohit has won five IPL titles, he is the most successful captain in the history of the tournament. Looking ahead, it will be a shame that he does not get the India white ball captaincy or just T20. Because he can’t do much more than This. He can only help the team he captains to win. So if he doesn’t become the regular captain of India, it will be his loss. “
Gambhir also clarified that this was in no way a suggestion that Kohli’s captaincy was “poor”, but merely an observation of who is best suited for the job, given that they both started captaining their IPL franchise around the same time. in 2013. Kohli took over the midseason captaincy that year from Daniel Vettori, while Ricky Ponting stepped down to hand over the reins to Sharma after a poor start.
Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, in 2012 and 2014, even suggested that India might consider a split captaincy model in the future, with Kohli continuing to lead in test cricket and Sharma assuming the captaincy. white ball.
“They can also consider the captaincy divided,” he said. “No one is poor. Rohit has shown in white ball cricket how big the difference is between his captaincy and Virat’s. One player had led his team to five titles, the other has yet to win. I am not saying this because Kohli He’s a bad captain. But he’s been given the same platform as Rohit, so you have to judge them both by the same parameters. They have both been captains in the IPL for the same period of time. I think Rohit stands out as a leader. “
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