Despite Rohit Sharma now taking over the captaincy in all three formats, surely one cannot just dismiss the hard work and efforts put in by former skipper Virat Kohli. Considered as Team India's top performers, both Rohit and Kohli have had their fair share of ups and downs in their cricket careers.
Amid all this, their fans have made sure to keep the war between the top two players on a high and now a statement by Chetan Sharma, the chairman of India's selection committee, has just fueled the fire.
In the presser, after naming Rohit Sharma as the Test captain for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, Chetan Sharma had said that the right-handed batter is the number one cricketer in the country.
"As far as Rohit Sharma is concerned, he is the number one cricketer of our country, he is playing all three formats of the game. The important thing is how we manage Rohit, cricketers manage their bodies. From time to time we will be in discussion with Rohit. If such a big cricketer is leading the country, we as selection committee want to groom further captains, and grooming them under Rohit will be tremendous," said Chetan Sharma during a virtual press conference.
Further talking about Rohit being named Test captain, Chetan said: "Rohit was a clear choice of ours, we are very happy with naming him as captain. We will groom future captains under him, let's hope everything goes right and if things pan out how we want them to, it will be really good."
"If Rohit keeps leading for a long time, then it would be really good for us. But no one can predict it, as long as Rohit is available and fit, he will be the Test captain. When he wants to rest, we will give him the rest," he added.
Surely no one can deny the contributions made by the 'Hitman', however, was THIS statement by Chetan Sharma necessary? Especially during the time when Kohli gave up T20I captaincy to concentrate on T20I and Test and then saw the 'Run Machine' being removed from the 50-over game leadership to him totally giving up the role in all formats.
This is the same thought of many fans as well, as they took to Twitter to express their concerns and even praise Kohli for all his hard work, especially in reviving Test cricket.
About the Sri Lankan series, Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new Test captain while veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were dropped from the Sri Lanka series.
Washington Sundar and KL Rahul were ruled out due to injury, but could come back if they recover early, said Chetan Sharma. Ravichandran Ashwin is also subject to fitness as well, while Axar Patel is still recovering in rehab and might get fit by the 2nd Test match said, Chetan Sharma.
