Rohit Sharma appointed India ODI captain: Here’s why selectors removed Virat Kohli!

Rohit was also named as India’s Test vice-captain as the All-India Senior Selection Committee picked an 18-member squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa. Rohit will take over from Ajinkya Rahane as Test vice-captain.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” BCCI said in a statement.

It was a bold decision by the selectors to remove Kohli who enjoys a good record in ODIs as captain. He has led India in 95 ODIs and scored 5449 runs at a stunning 72.65 average with 21 hundreds and 27 fifties.

Of that 95 matches he led, India won 65 matches and lost 27 for a winning percentage of 70.43. Under his leadership, India reached the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the semifinals of the ICC 50-over World Cup semis in 2019.

But a silverware eluded him and Team India under his tenure. Perhaps, it was the reason why the selectors wanted to change him and give Rohit a run ahead of the 2023 WC to be played in India.

Rohit Sharma ODI captaincy record

Rohit has so far led India in 10 ODIs, and won 8 of them. The record put his winning ratio at 80 per cent. Rohit made his ODI captaincy debut in 2018 against Sri Lanka, similarly to his journey as T20I captain.

Rohit made a fine captaincy debut when India defeated Sri Lanka 2-1. As ODI captain, Rohit has scored a double century, a century and 4 fifties in 10 matches, showing that captaincy sits light on him.

Laxman’s advice

Former India batter VVS Laxman said the batting unit of India need to work hard in order to win against South Africa.

India will play three (3) One Day Internationals and three (3) Tests against the Proteas starting from December 26 to January 23.

“It’s very important not to repeat the same mistakes. If you see the way Ajinkya Rahane got out in Kanpur, Pujara got out in Kanpur as well as in Mumbai, it’s almost like a pattern, which is developing.

“Even Shubman Gill after settling down, throwing away his wicket. So, I just believe that it is about converting that start into a big score, which is very critical and as it is India plays with five genuine batsmen then you have your all-rounder in the form of Jadeja, you then have a wicket-keeper batsman,” said VVS Laxman on Star Sports show Follow The Blues.

“So, the top five batsmen need to make it count once they spend time on the crease.

“Somewhere or the other I feel that the mistakes are being repeated and after getting set they are losing their wicket easily, which you cannot do because if you want to perform well against good teams and especially if you want to win against South Africa then as a batting unit you need to fire,” he added.