Virat Kohli’s future as India ODI captain will be decided this week when the national selection committee, led by Chetan Sharma, selects the squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
The BCCI top brass have said that India’s tour of South Africa remains on schedule, though they’re keeping a close watch on the situation surrounding the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant in that country.
While 2022 will primarily be dominated by T20Is due to another global event in Australia, there are only nine ODIs as of now in the next seven months, with six (three each in South Africa and England) abroad and three in India.
Since there will be one bio-bubble, a jumbo squad is again expected to be selected across formats. The squad strength could be anything between 20 to 23, taking all formats into account.
There are currently two schools of thought in the BCCI. One that believes that Kohli could be allowed to continue as there are only a few ODIs left. The other thought process is about not having two white ball skippers and giving Rohit enough time to prepare a potent team that could be serious title contenders for 2023 ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in India.
It is understood that there are strong arguments for both theories but the final call on Kohli’s fate as ODI skipper will be taken by president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
Kohli’s inability to win any major multi-team event holds against him keeping the captaincy but his overall record has been more than decent in this format.
“The Indian squad will be announced in the next few days time. We will have everything ready from our end and then wait for the government’s nod. If the government tell us to abort the trip, then we would, but we need to keep the squad selected and ready,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on Wednesday.
