All eyes with be firmly lodged on new Indian permanent white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma, who will be leading India for the first time after former skipper Virat Kohli was asked to step down from ODI captaincy, following his decision to quit his leadership role in T20Is.
Saturday’s first ODI against the West Indies will be Sharma’s first assignment post his appointment as captain. Mumbai Indians player is also a frontrunner in the race to become India’s next Test match captain, after Kohli’s inexplicable resignation.
With preparations going on for India’s first series under Sharma, former Indian bowler Ajit Agarkar has come out and identified Rohit Sharma’s biggest challenge in his new role. Agarkar also added that Sharma’s potential problem was what previous skippers MS Dhoni and Kohli’s biggest strengths were.
Agarkar lauded Sharma’s appointment as a step in the right direction, but went on to suspect that his long-term fitness could be a potential issue for the team.
Rohit was rested from time to time during Kohli’s tenure as captain, which made it possible for the Indian squad to manage his fitness. The dynamic opener has had problems with his hamstrings during his career, and there is a concern that too much game time could hamper his fitness and potentially shorten his career as well.
“I think it’s a good thing and the right thing to do – to have one captain for white-ball format and now Rohit actually can fly. So, the challenge for Rohit Sharma – in my opinion – is to stay fit and play everything that is there, from now to the World Cup in white-ball cricket, because you want the captain – that was one of Virat Kohli’s strengths or MS Dhoni before that, they rarely missed games, and both were very fit,”
he said on Star Sports.
Agarkar was of the opinion that Sharma’s fitness would be paramount, at least for the next two years, with three World Cup tournaments scheduled between 2022 and 2024. He pointed out that peak fitness was the reason MS Dhoni was able to lead the national side for so long and still continues to do so with much success for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. He also took Kohli’s example, acknowledging the former skipper’s supreme fitness.
Sharma should have led the Men in Blue against South Africa in the ODI series but missed the tour after an injury rules him out. Vice-captain KL Rahul took charge of the team but suffered a humbling 3-0 whitewash at the hands of the Proteas.
