Shoaib Akhtar has never shied away from giving his point of view on cricketing topics since his retirement. Especially after starting his YouTube channel, Akhtar has several times addressed about Indian cricket. The former Pakistan fast bowler has always lauded the contribution of two Indian stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the last decade.
Kohli has continued leading India in all three formats in the last few years and has done a praiseworthy job. Whereas Rohit has created a great legacy with Mumbai Indians in the IPL and has led them to 5 titles. This has resulted in a lot of pundits fancying Rohit to lead India in T20Is instead of Kohli.
If Virat Kohli Is Fatigued He Should Give Captaincy To Rohit Sharma- Shoaib Akhtar
Kohli as captain of team India in white-ball cricket is still yet to win a major ICC trophy. Also in the IPL, Kohli hasn’t won the title which is why several experts and former cricketer has had their say on the split captaincy of India between Kohli and Rohit.
Now, Shoaib Akhtar has shared his thoughts on whether Kohli should continue leading the men in blue in T20Is or not. According to Akhtar if Kohli is feeling fatigued after playing non-stop cricket he should think about giving T20 captaincy to Rohit. The former cricketer also mentioned that Kohli seemed stressed out during IPL because of the bio-secure bubble and Rohit can be the ideal man to lead India in the shortest format.
Akhtar said, “My take on it is pretty simple. From what I know Virat is very keen to take the team forward. It all depends on how fatigued he is feeling. He has been playing non-stop since 2010, has got 70 centuries and a mountain of runs under his belt. If he is feeling fatigued, then he should think about giving the leadership role to Rohit in one of the formats (preferably T20s).
“I could see the boredom on his face during the IPL, maybe it was because of the bio-bubble situation, he seemed a bit stressed out. It all depends on how he feels. Rohit has been ready for captaincy for a while”, Shoaib Akhtar said to PTI.
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Meanwhile, Akhtar also reckons that Rohit should lead India in absence of Kohli in the last 3 Tests against Australia. He added that Rohit certainly has the talent and ability to lead India but he needs to succeed down under as a batsman which will further prompt the debate of split captaincy for India.
“Australia will be his best chance to prove himself as captain. He should grab it with both hands. He has the talent and ability to lead the team. It will be a tough test for India and I would look for these kinds of situations as a player”.
“The whole world would be looking at Rohit as captain and batsman. If he does well for himself and the team, then there should be a debate about split captaincy”, concluded Shoaib Akhtar.
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