Is Indian cricket looking at split captaincy post England series?

MUMBAI: India skipper Virat Kohli might lose his white-ball captaincy and Rohit Sharma could be asked to lead the limited-overs side if the team fails to win the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year.

While Kohli has been very successful in Test cricket, the onus of leading the side in limited-overs cricket could fall on Sharma because of the former's failure to guide the side to victory in ICC events despite having some of the best bowlers and batters in the game.

Quoting a report, cricketaddictor.com said on Thursday that, "Team India skipper Virat Kohli might have his captaincy on the line when he leads the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Kohli has come under the scanner multiple times of late, particularly regarding his failure to win an ICC event despite having a strong squad."

The website added that the BCCI top brass has been discussing the issue since India's loss to New Zealand in the World Test Championship final in England, where they were reportedly unhappy with the Indian skipper's team selection. Kohli had played two spinners in seamer-friendly and overcast conditions during the WTC final.

"The BCCI is deeply concerned about Virat Kohli's captaincy, especially in the ICC tournaments because of his failure as a captain in the ICC events. In a meeting held by the BCCI office-bearers in July after the WTC Final, it emerged that a lot of BCCI officials are unsatisfied with Virat's captaincy," cricketaddictor.com said quoting reports.

"BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, vice-president Rajiv Shukla, secretary Jay Shah, and the treasurer Arun Dhumal were all a part of the meeting. The decision to go ahead with two spinners in the WTC Final didn't go too well with the BCCI officials and hence, it was discussed that the T20 World Cup can be the last opportunity for Virat Kohli, especially in the limited-overs format."

In fact, there has been a lot of debate on split captaincy where Kohli remains the Test captain and Sharma takes over as the limited-overs skipper, especially since he has enjoyed unprecedented success leading Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"A senior BCCI office-bearer came up with the suggestion of implementing 3 different captains for all the 3 formats. Another senior BCCI official suggested giving Test captaincy to Virat Kohli itself and giving the limited-overs captaincy to Rohit Sharma," the report added.

In May this year, former India chief selector Kiran More had said that the team could look at spilt captaincy for the three formats between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

"I think the vision of the board drives these things. I believe Rohit Sharma will get a chance soon. Virat Kohli is a shrewd captain who played under MS Dhoni. How long he wants to captain the ODIs and T20s, he will also think. You will learn a lot more about these decisions after the England tour," More had told India TV. IANS

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