Veteran cricketer Manoj Tiwary has slammed the selection committee headed by Chetan Sharma for appointing KL Rahul as the ODI captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma against South Africa. Rahul had a disastrous start to his leadership stint as the hosts inflicted a 3-0 whitewash against the men in blues.
After Kohli relinquished his leadership duties from the shortest format after the T20 World Cup, the talismanic run-scorer was scrapped from captaincy in the one-dayers. Rohit Sharma was appointed in his place. However, he failed to make it to South Africa owing to a hamstring injury and KL Rahul led the side in his absence.
The cricketer from Karnataka had a forgettable captain with many experts calling out his strategies and his struggle to think out of the box when put under the pump. Manoj Tiwary also questioned the appointment of KL Rahul.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, the veteran cricketer said:
“First of all, I want to ask the selectors, “What did you see in Rahul as captaincy material?” Suddenly, they’re saying that they’re grooming him as a future captain. I don’t understand how you can “groom” a captain.”
Manoj Tiwary added:
“A person is either a born leader or he isn’t. Captaincy comes naturally, it’s an inbuilt quality. Grooming a captain is possible, but the process will take a long time. It will take a player around 20 to 25 games to learn about decision-making, but even then success will not be guaranteed. See, every international match is important for India.”
Rohit Sharma should lead India in Tests – Manoj Tiwary
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain after India’s 1-2 defeat against the Proteas. The position remains vacant as BCCI continues to search for a suitable candidate for the job. Manoj Tiwary, who recently turned a politician, believes Rohit Sharma, who is the captain in the limited-overs, should also take over the job in the Tests.
“Rohit Sharma – there’s no question about that! Rohit is a born leader, so the selectors and the team management shouldn’t think about anyone else. Let’s not think too far ahead at this point in time. Let’s only focus on the present as Rohit still has a lot of cricket left in him. He has led Mumbai Indians successfully in the IPL, so just give him the captaincy. Irrespective of the format, he has been successful because of his decision making, temperament and strong communication skills,” Tiwary concluded.