Former India batter Manoj Tiwary has suggested the BCCI to reappoint Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, replacing Shubman Gill. (CREIMAS)
Rohit Sharma may not have had the best out of outings with the bat during India’s embarrassing home ODI series defeat against New Zealand last week, but his former national teammate, Manoj Tiwary, has urged that the 38-year-old must be reappointed as the skipper of the side.
For the first time in over three decades, India lost a home ODI series against New Zealand under Shubman Gill, who has endured a tough initiation as captain in the format. Under Gill, India lost their first series in Australia 2-1 in October, before the harrowing home defeat.
In December, India defeated South Africa 2-1 at home, but Gill missed the series due to an injury, handing over the reins to KL Rahul. With Gill’s immediate results unyielding in the format, Tiwary has questioned why the team management and the selectors had to move on from Rohit only months after he had spearheaded the Men in Blue to the Champions Trophy crown last year over New Zealand.
“What was the need to remove Rohit Sharma from the captaincy? I’m pretty sure that if Rohit were leading even today in the ODIs, it would have been a different result (New Zealand series) altogether. Because when he won the Champions Trophy, I think the team was going forward in the right direction,” Tiwary told in an interaction with InsideSport.
When asked if he was suggesting that the management replace the 26-year-old Gill and re-appoint Rohit as the captain, Tiwary replied in the affirmative.
“Yes, absolutely. That’s what I’m suggesting because there’s still time to course correct. It’s about the World Cup. It’s not just about a bilateral series or a random tournament we are going to play,” the former India batter said.
Tiwary went onto add that Rohit’s leadership nous stood distinctly ahead of Gill, and with a World Cup looming next year, it was wiser for India to hold onto a proven captain.
“Rohit is not a little better than Shubman, but a lot better, currently. That’s why he’s such a successful captain. You can win it (the World Cup) with Shubman’s captaincy, but I’m suggesting comparing the captaincy of both. If Rohit becomes the captain, what is the percentage chance of winning? And if Shubman leads, what is the percentage chance of winning? I think everyone will say that if Rohit is the captain, then there is an 85 to 90 per cent chance of winning the World Cup,” added Tiwary.
While Rohit came into the series as the No. 1 ODI batter with two successful series against Australia and South Africa, he could only muster 61 runs in three innings. Meanwhile, his opening partner, Gill, tallied 135 runs in three innings with two half-centuries.
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