The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced different captains for each format during India's upcoming tour to South Africa which is slated to commence from December 10. The BCCI took this decision because India's regular captain Rohit Sharma asked for rest for the white-ball outing in the South Africa tour.
As a result, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team in the three-match T20I series beginning on December 10. KL Rahul will assume the captaincy for the subsequent three-match ODI series. Rohit will return as the Test captain for the two-match series, commencing on December 26.
Meanwhile, giving his two cent on the issue, former India cricketer and World Cup-winner Irfan Pathan opposed the idea of split captaincy, advocating against having separate captains for different formats in the Indian cricket team. During an interview on Star Sports, Irfan expressed his belief that split captaincy is not suitable for the culture of the Indian cricket team.
"This could be a sign for the future, which I am not a big fan of. There has been talk for a long time about whether we can do split captaincy. Workload management has indeed been done here and that is why you are seeing such big squads and different captains. It's clear that Rohit Sharma had to take a break from white-ball cricket, so you are not seeing him there," Pathan said.
"You are seeing him as the captain for Test cricket. However, you might see these things going forward. You might even see different coaches for different formats. I believe it's better if it doesn't happen in our culture," the former cricketer further added.
The Indian cricket team has seen various captains in the last two to three years. Under Rohit's captaincy, particularly after the T20 World Cup in 2021, several players, including Pandya in T20Is, and Shikhar Dhawan and KL in ODIs, have taken on the leadership role as part of the team's workload management.
Rohit has not captained India in T20Is since their defeat to England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022. Pandya, serving as India's T20I vice-captain, has been leading the team since the 2022 T20I.
He is not part of the series against South Africa as the all-rounder is still recuperating from the ankle injury he sustained against Bangladesh during the ODI World Cup 2023.
Rohit, alongside Kohli, had an outstanding performance in the recently concluded ODI World Cup. The two experienced players guided India to the final of the tournament, emerging as the top run-scorers with 597 and 765 runs in 11 innings respectively.
After a demanding World Cup campaign, the duo requested a hiatus from ODIs and T20Is, leading to the BCCI naming three different captains for the series against South Africa.
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