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Journalism of Courage
Former India international Mohammad Kaif has said that Rohit Sharma should have been allowed to continue as captain till the 2027 ODI World Cup and that overburdening Shubman Gill with captaincy in multiple formats could lead to complications. Kaif went on his YouTube channel and said that Gill, who had also recently been made the Test captain, and was also made the India T20Is vice-captain was being handed Indian cricket’s reins too quickly.
“My point is don’t overburden him. He captains in Tests, bats at No. 4. He was made the vice-captain in the Asia Cup – will take over when Suryakumar Yadav steps aside. Now you’ve made him the ODI captain. I feel everything is being done in a hurry. A player never asks for captaincy. Everyone knows that he didn’t want it. You can’t demand it, but everyone seems to like him a lot and considers him a captain for the future. The selectors, including Ajit Agarkar, have put pressure on him,” said Kaif on his YouTube channel.
The former right-hand batsman then said that while the change in captaincy was on expected lines, the expectation was that the switch would happen post the 2027 World Cup. Rohit Sharma last captained India at the ICC Champions Trophy which India won. Rohit Sharma’s ODI record stood at a pristine 42 wins as captain in 56 games – a hefty 75% win rate, and the best among all Indian captains who led the Indian team for 50 games and above.
“This was on expected lines, but I felt this would happen after the 2027 World Cup. The guy has quality, and he’s also worked on his fitness. He had a realistic chance of playing the 2027 World Cup. However, the load falls on Gill. He’s getting all of it in a hurry. It could also lead to a loss. When you get so much in such a short time, it could backfire,” Kaif said in a video posted on his official YouTube channel.
