“Those Five Years, He Has Led From The Front” – Rohit Sharma On Virat Kohli

Newly appointed Indian white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma has lauded Virat Kohli for the way he led the Indian team during his tenure. India made it to three ICC knockouts under Kohli which remains a significant achievement under his reign. 

The BCCI last week named Rohit Sharma as the ODI and T20I skipper of the Indian team. Kohli will continue to lead the team in the Test format. In his first interview with BCCI, Rohit was asked to speak about Virat’s legacy as captain.

He praised Kohli for the way he led the team to a point where there is no looking back. 

Goals & excitement 👍
Working with Rahul Dravid 👌@imVkohli's legacy as India's white-ball captain 👏#TeamIndia's new white-ball captain @ImRo45 discusses it all in this special feature for https://t.co/Z3MPyesSeZ 👍 👍

Watch the full interview 🎥 🔽https://t.co/JVS0Qff905 pic.twitter.com/kFlqZxWh5t

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 13, 2021

“He’s put the team in a situation where there’s no looking back. Those five years that he’s led the team, he led from the front every time we stepped onto the park. Yeah, there was clear grit and determination to win every game. That was the message to the entire squad and we had a great time playing under him. Obviously, I have played a lot of cricket with him together, I have enjoyed each and every moment and I’ll still continue to do that.”

Virat Kohli took over India’s captaincy in 2017. In five years, he led the team in 95 ODI games and won 65 out of them. He won 15 out of 19 bilateral series in the meantime. In all, he led in 95 ODIs and 50 T20Is, winning 70.43 percent and 64.58 percent of those respectively.

A leader who led the side with grit, passion & determination. 🇮🇳🔝

Thank you Captain @imVkohli!👏👏#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/gz7r6KCuWF

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 9, 2021

“It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together” – Sourav Ganguly

After Rohit’s appointment as the next ODI skipper, Sourav Ganguly said that the call was made by the selectors and not by him alone. 

“It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly said as quoted by ANI.