Rohit Sharma has been named as Indian men’s One-Day International captain to go along with his role as the T20I captain going forward, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed on Wednesday.
Rohit led India in the three-match T20I series at home against New Zealand recently, with Virat Kohli resting after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Kohli had announced that he will step down from T20I captaincy after the World Cup, but had not mentioned anything about ODIs yet.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” the BCCI said in a statement issued by secretary Jay Shah.
Rohit’ first assignment as the ODI captain will be the three-match series in South Africa. The BCCI announced only the Test squad for the South Africa tour, for which Rohit has been promoted as the vice captain. The ODI squad is yet to be announced whereas the T20Is are no longer a part of the upcoming tour.
India’s squad for SA Test series: Rohit Sharma named vice captain, Ravindra Jadeja among absentees
Rohit Sharma, 34, has already led India in 10 ODIs (8 wins, 2 defeats) and 22 T20Is (18 wins, 4 defeats) in his career. He has also been the captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise in the Indian Premier League, winning the title as captain in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
The 33-year-old Kohli had said ahead of the T20 World Cup in UAE: “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Cricket Team in Test and ODI Cricket. I have given everything to the Team during my time as T20 Captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 Team as a batsman moving forward.”
Kohli will helm the three-Test series in South Africa starting December 26 – a tour delayed and shortened because of fears over the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
The Test series will be followed by three One-Day Internationals, the first two in Paarl on January 19 and 21 and the third at Newlands on January 23.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India named Ajinkya Rahane to the Test squad despite the veteran batsman’s dry spell and absence from Monday’s thumping second Test win against New Zealand in Mumbai.
Fixtures during India’s tour of SA:
December 26-30, first Test, Centurion
January 3-7, second Test, Johannesburg
January 11-15, third Test, Cape Town
January 19, first ODI, Paarl
January 21, second ODI, Paarl
January 23, third ODI, Cape Town
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