Rohit Sharma has been named as the new ODI captain of team India ahead of the South Africa tour. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also announced that Rohit will be Virat Kohli's deputy in the Test side instead of an out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane.
Before ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli had announced that he will step down from T20I captaincy after the mega event. There were rumours that the 33-year-old will give up white-ball captaincy altogether to prolong his career as a batter.
BCCI is yet to announce the ODI squad for the South Africa tour as the selectors are keeping an eye on performances in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, especially on players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer and others.
Captaincy numbers
Rohit has captained the Indian ODI side for 10 matches and won eight out of them. On the other hand, Kohli has captained India in 95 matches and won 65 out of them. His winning percentage of 68 is the highest among India captains who have led the side in 15 or more ODIs. Under Kohli, India have had a fantastic run in bi-lateral ODI series with 15 series wins out of 19. In home conditions, India won eight out of nine ODI series under the 33-year-old.
However, not being able to win a major ICC trophy has been a major point of criticism of Kohli's captaincy career. Despite a two-year century drought, Kohli had an impressive run with the bat as ODI captain scoring 5,449 runs from 91 innings at an average of 72.65 and a strike rate of 98.28. During this period, he scored 21 centuries and 27 half-centuries.
