Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt is unsurprised by India’s move to replace Virat Kohli as ODI captain with Rohit Sharma. Importantly, the senior men’s selection panel revealed the choice on December 8, along with the announcement of an 18-man team for the forthcoming three-match Test series versus South Africa. Here is what Salman Butt reckons On Kohli’s ODI Captaincy Transfer To Rohit.
Salman Butt On Kohli’s ODI Captaincy Transfer To Rohit
Many were surprised by the decision, considering Kohli’s desire to remain leading the ODI and Test teams while declaring his choice to step down as T20I captain in terms of managing his workload. Therefore, he will lead the way just in the longest format for the time being.
Butt, on the other hand, believes that the decision makes perfect sense since it would not only relieve Kohli of the pressure but will also offer him more flexibility and self-determination as a batter, as he is not being able to play up to his standards in the previous couple of years.
To reduce the workload of Kohli, the white-ball captaincy had to go one way: Butt
“This doesn’t come as a surprise to me. It was on the cards. It doesn’t make sense anyway if he’s only the T20I captain. It makes sense to segregate between white between a red ball and white ball to reduce the pressure on a certain player. India doesn’t play a lot T20Is; they mainly play ODIs and Tests. In order to reduce workload (off Kohli), the entire white-ball captaincy had to go one way,” explained Butt in an Interaction.
“As I said, there is no element of surprise here. It’s a good thing because you will see Virat Kohli’s performance getting better because he was extremely overloaded. And as it is, the volume of cricket that India plays is very high. The pressure is even higher when all eyes are on him and people only talk about him not scoring runs. For people, him scoring 50s did not amount to anything. I reckon this was a perfect exchange with Rohit Sharma.”
During his first task as the squad’s full-time skipper since Kohli decided to step down following the completion of the T20 World Cup 2021, Rohit consequently led India to a 3-0 success versus New Zealand in the home T20I series. India will play South Africa in 3 Tests and 3 ODIs, with the first Test scheduled from December 26.
Also read: ‘Too Much Leadership’ Ganguly Discusses Kohli’s Captaincy Transfer To Rohit
