Highlights:
- Rohit Sharma to take Kohli’s place as the ODI Captain for the Indian cricket team up to 2023’s 50-over World Cup
- Ajinkya Rahan was removed from Vice-captaincy for Tests; a position to be undertaken by Rohit Sharma
- Rohit’s first assignment as ODI captain will be against South Africa next month where the team is lined up to play three ODIs.
The national selection committee on Wednesday replaced Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain until the 50-over World Cup of 2023. Another noteworthy development involved Right-handed batsman, Ajinkya Rahane getting replaced by Rohit Sharma as the Vice-captain for Tests.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward.#TeamIndia | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/hcg92sPtCa
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2021
The Board of Control for Cricket in India declared the names for the 18-member squad for the three-Test series. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, right-handed opening batsman Shubhman Gill and slow left-arm orthodox bowler Axar Patel will not be a part of the same owing to various injuries.
Right-arm off-break bowler Hanuma Vihari has been reinstated in the main squad alongside Ishant Sharma who has been able to retain his spot in spite of poor form.
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The Test squad comprises Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Md. Siraj.
Standby players include Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Saurabh Kumar and Arzan Nagwaswalla. Rohit led the team as permanent T20I Captain in the previous month in a three-match series against New Zealand. India clinched the series 3-0 and Rohit was crowned Man of the Series.
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The Rohit-led Indian team will face South Africa for the upcoming ODI. The Men in Blu will be participating in three ODIs in the coming month. The BCCI has not yet announced the names of India’s ODI squad.
Virat had taken the reigns of the team after MS Dhoni’s resignation from the post in 2017. Kohli set an exemplary record as captain in the ODIssecuring 65 wins in 95 games. India marched into the finals of the 2017 Champion’s Trophy and semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup under the leadership of Kohli.
Rohit is prepped to lead the Indian team in the T20 World Cup scheduled in 2022 in Australia and the 2023 ODI World Cup to be hosted in India. The Indians definitely seek to put an end to the 8-year drought without an ICC trophy under the supervision of Rohit Sharma.