Rohit Sharma named new India T20 cricket captain

Star batsman replaces Virat Kohli as India’s cricket board announces the squad for upcoming tour by New Zealand.

India's Rohit Sharma in action during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup match against Scotland at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]

Rohit Sharma has been named the new captain of India’s T20 side, replacing Virat Kohli, the cricket board said after the side were dumped out of the World Cup.

The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) on Tuesday tweeted that the 34-year-old opening batsman was “named the T20I Captain for India” as it announced the squad for an upcoming tour by New Zealand. Fellow opener KL Rahul has been named Rohit’s deputy.

Kohli, who took over T20I captaincy in 2017, had announced his decision to step down in September, citing his “immense workload”. He remains the skipper of the one-day and Test teams.

The announcement follows news that former batting legend Rahul Dravid was replacing Ravi Shastri as coach for all formats following the World Cup, where India failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

The right-handed Sharma, known for his hard hitting, made his debut in 2007 for the national team, initially playing limited overs cricket before being included in the Test team in 2013.

Sharma also captained the Mumbai Indians to victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) five times. Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Kohli, have never won the title.

Kohli was also not named in the T20 squad for the New Zealand tour to give the batsman time to rest. Also left out were pace bowlers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, as well as bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

The tour by New Zealand begins on November 17 with the first of three T20 games followed by two Test matches.

The selectors have made several changes to the squad featured in the United Arab Emirates, bringing in the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel while dropping all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The first T20 is scheduled for Jaipur on November 17, followed by games in Ranchi on November 19 and Kolkata on November 21.

Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup
India’s Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in action as England’s Jos Buttler looks on during the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament in Birmingham, UK [File: Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers]

Sharma has played 116 T20 international matches, scoring 3029 runs and averages over 32. He has amassed 9205 runs in 227 ODIs and 3047 from 43 Test matches at an average of nearly 47.

India faced sharp criticism at home over their dismal performance in the T20 World Cup, including their humiliating defeat at the hands of arch-rival Pakistan as well as New Zealand.

But Shastri said on Monday after his last game in charge after five years that the current team was “one of the great cricket teams in the history of the game”.

“We might not have won this World Cup, but I think going forward we’ll continue to have a strong team because the IPL throws a lot of young players into the mix. Rahul (Dravid) will have his own ideas on how to take this team forward,” Shastri said.

“I think in Rohit you’ve got a very capable guy. He’s won so many IPLs. He’s the vice-captain of this side. He’s waiting in the wings to take that job,” Shastri added.

Kohli tweeted on Monday: “Together as one we set out to achieve our goal. Unfortunately, we fell short and no one is more disappointed than us as a side.”

“The support from all of you has been fantastic and we are grateful for it all. We will aim to come back stronger and put our best foot forward.”

Squad:

Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj

Source: News Agencies