Former Team India selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels that split captaincy can work wonders for Test skipper Virat Kohli and newly-appointed white-ball captain Rohit Sharma. The Board of Control for Cricket in India earlier this week axed Virat Kohli from the ODI captaincy with Rohit Sharma to step in full-time, starting with the forthcoming ODI series against South Africa. Earlier, Kohli had relinquished the T20 captaincy after the T20 World Cup, but said that he’ll continue to lead the team in Tests and ODIs.
“I feel there will be no issue of having two power centers in the Indian dressing room. These are professional players after all and they will get on with the job at hand. As we see in England, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan are both doing well as Test and white-ball captains. So split captaincy can work for both Virat and Rohit as well,” Vengsarkar wrote in his column for the Indian Express.
Describing Virat as one of the best batters in the world, Vengsarkar said that the 33-year-old will able to focus more on Test cricket, which he feels is the ultimate form of sport.
“Virat has had a good run as captain of the Indian white-ball team and now the burden from his shoulders will be released 100 per cent. He is one of the best batsmen in the world at the moment. This will help him to concentrate more on Test cricket, which I feel is the ultimate form of cricket,” he added.
During the early days of Vengsarkar’s tenure as the selector of the Indian team, Anil Kumble was named as Test captain while MS Dhoni was groomed by the management to lead the team in future.
Pointing out the same, Vengsarkar said that the current management should also groom someone young who can captain the team successfully in the future.
“The most important thing now is that the national selection committee has to groom someone who will take over the captaincy in the future.
