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When Rohit Sharma took over the mantle of captaincy from Virat Kohli, India had two targets– the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia and the 50-over World Cup at home in 2023.
However, the two big ICC tournaments India played in 2022 ended in bitter disappointments. India failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup. The Men in Blue also got knocked out of the World Cup with a lop-sided defeat to England in the semi-final.
Faulty team selections, injury to top players, lack of intent and inspiring leadership could be attributed to India’s dismal performances.
Moreover, India’s trophy cabinet is yet to add an ICC silverware since 2013.
Pushing all those things behind, 2023 was a fresh start for the Men in Blue. However, Rohit and Co failed to banish the demons of 2022 with an underwhelming performance in the recently-concluded World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at the Oval.
Upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 to be played in India will be a chance for Rohit and his teammates to make amends and win an ICC trophy after a long drought.
Rohit’s dominance as an opener has also faded. Some other young and emerging openers like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal have shown outstanding strength as openers across formats.
After being appointed as the captain, Rohit’s performance has dropped to a great extent. The prolific opener had a batting average of over 47, in Tests in 2021. However, it dropped to just 30.0 in 2022. His ODI batting average was around 57 in 2020 and 2019. However it dropped to 41.50 in 2022.
Earlier from 2013 to 2019, his ODI batting average never dropped below 50. In T20Is, the right-handed batsman had a batting average of over 24 in 2022, compared to a massive 38 and 46 in the last two years.
Rohit has also a lot of fitness issues. He faces many injuries and is given rests regularly. Being a skipper across all formats, he needs to lead as much as he can.
Moreover, Rohit will be 36 by the time the ODI World Cup 2023 ends. As per several experts, Rohit should step away from limited-overs game after the completion of the mega tournament to pass the baton to the next generation. Then it is only a matter of time before the next India captain is identified. With star all-rounder Hardik Pandya already taking the leadership role in the T20I team, he is the obvious choice to replace Rohit as India’s white-ball captain.
As per BCCI sources, the wheels are already in motion. Pandya has an excellent start to his captaincy career. After leading Gujarat Titans (GT) to Indian Premier League (IPL) title glory in 2022, he also guided the franchise again to emerge runners-up in IPL 2023.
As captain of the Men in Blue, Hardik led India to series victories against Ireland, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Moreover, under his captaincy, India have lost just twice and with a younger and talented batch of cricketers coming up, the all-rounder appears the best choice to lead the team into its next era.
As per several experts, Rohit can play out the remaining years of his career focusing on the longest format of the game only.
“Hardik is doing well as captain. For now, there is no better option than him to be looked at, post Rohit. He must be backed. After the completion of the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 to be played in India, Rohit should make way for Hardik in limited overs cricket. The former captain should concentrate playing Test cricket only,” said a BCCI official under the condition of anonymity.
