Say it in whispers but we might well be into a time when split captaincy is more trending than ever. After rumours about India considering a change of reins in limited-overs cricket after the World Cup, they have squashed all of that by retaining Virat Kohli as the captain for the upcoming T20Is against South Africa.
There are rumours about rifts between Kohli and Rohit Sharma and appointing the Mumbai T20 franchise skipper as national captain in the shortest formats of the game would have only fueled those. But is it a right move? There are multiple reasons to believe so.
A proactive captain
Unlike Kohli, Rohit is less instinctive and backs the data and analysis that is fed to him. He is also more prone to be proactive in the field as has been revealed in his stint at the helm for Mumbai. He uses bowlers wisely and has clear cut back up plans even if the main one flounders.
During the 2018 Asia Cup, Rohit had successfully used Dhoni at No. 4 and publically backed him in the position. When Kohli returned, Dhoni was invariably moved down the order and in the World Cup semi-final, it might just have cost India the tournament.
Three titles
The one main reason to believe that it is the team, not Kohli, who’s behind India's recent success is the fact that Kohli's T20 franchise in the Indian T20 league lurks at the bottom of the rung each year. Despite boasting a sizeable line-up with uber-talented cricketers, Kohli has failed to get the best out of them and consistent results have been rare, if not completely absent.
On the other hand, Rohit has successfully led Mumbai to three titles since 2013. He has a way of standing out under pressure with his captaincy skills and it has been quite useful at Mumbai in the T20 league. Moreover, his credentials as a player in crunch situations also stand out. In 9 out of 10 tournament finals, Rohit has ended on the winning side.
Read: Kohli becomes India’s most successful Test captain
A time for experimentation
If India needed any clue to the fact that this is the ideal time to experiment ahead of the T20 World Cup next year, they only had to glance at the South African camp. Instead of going with their regular T20I skipper for a big series such as this one, they opted to hand over the reins to Quinton de Kock with Faf du Plessis picked just in the Test team.
This is fairly surprising given how good a T20 record du Plessis has. But in the bigger scheme of things, South Africa are ensuring that they groom their next leader now so that they aren't short of think-tanks when the World Cup comes knocking.
Captaincy record
If none of these are reason enough, stats should seal the deal in favour of Rohit. He has time and again stepped in for Kohli to lead the side and has a fantastic record as captain. In T20Is, Rohit has won 12 of the 15 matches he has captained India in. That gives him a win/loss ratio of 4, which is the best for any Indian captain in the shortest format of the game.
On the contrary, Kohli has a win/loss ratio of 1.66. India have won just three times more under Kohli than under Rohit despite the former skippering the side in 10 matches more.
The record is no fluke either. This is justified by his numbers as ODI skipper. While under Kohli, India have won 58 out of 80 matches, under Rohit they have won 8 out of the 10 ODIs. Again, the win/loss ratio is much better under Rohit than under Kohli.
Read: Not everyone's a Virender Sehwag, certainly not Rohit Sharma
Featured image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar
