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In late December last year, after talks around Rohit Sharma’s future in the Indian T20I team sparked amid his then continued absence from the format, experts and veterans argued over who could take over the reins in white-ball cricket with the 2024 T20 World Cup around the corner. Rohit later put the discussion to rest with an appearance in the home series against Afghanistan in January before BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed the 36-year-old would be leading the team in the ICC event in June. However, the veteran India opener’s spot in the World Cup team has been questioned in a sensational claim by former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharjya, who feels Jasprit Bumrah should be leading the Men in Blue instead of the the out-of-form batter.
BCCI’s selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar is all set to announce India’s 15-member squad for T20 World Cup in another week’s time, with May 1 as the deadline set by the ICC for the team announcement. Ahead of the big revelation, the selectors are reportedly set to meet Rohit in New Delhi on Saturday or Sunday, on the sidelines of the ongoing 2024 season of the Indian Premier League. Rohit is already in the capital city for Mumbai Indians’ match against Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
While the selectors will be facing a few too many headaches in picking their final 15 for the World Cup, Bhattacharjya sparked a fresh debate as he questioned the very decision to appoint Rohit as the skipper for the ICC tournament, labelling him as “not an ideal choice”.
“The decision to appoint Rohit Sharma as India’s captain for the T20 World Cup may have hampered the team. At this point, Sharma is not the ideal choice to lead the team in the T20I format,” he said on Cricbuzz.
Bhattacharjya further lashed out at Rohit’s performance in the ongoing IPL 2024, reckoning that while his name will be present in the selection list by virtue of being the captain, India will have to force someone between Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gil to bat lower down the order despite them being in a better form that than Rohit.
“I have the utmost respect for Rohit Sharma and I think he is an amazing cricketer. However, he is currently out of batting form. Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill are in better form right now and are strong contenders for the opening positions. However, since Sharma is the captain, he will open, meaning one of those in-form players will have to bat lower down the order,” he added.
In eight matches so far for MI, Rohit, who was removed from the captaincy role heading into the season, amassed 303 runs, which is less than Kohli (430 runs) and Gill (304), but his strike rate of 162.90 is the better than all those above three. In fact, his scoring rate of 10.5 runs per over against the new ball is the best among the four as well.
Bhattacharjya reckoned that Bumrah is better fit to lead the Indian side in the World Cup than Rohit.
“I would choose Jasprit Bumrah over Rohit Sharma as captain because Bumrah’s skill as a bowler makes him a vital member of the team,” he said.
However, in putting Rohit’s career in perspective, Bhattacharjya backed the idea of the India star wanting to end his T20I career on a high with a World Cup haul for the country, which would subsequently end the nation’s 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.
“Rohit has achieved everything in cricket, but there’s one thing he needs to do; win a World Cup. He won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and wants to end his career on a high note, we call it book-ending. That’s a great thought,” he concluded.
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