Former India star all-rounder Yuvraj Singh is known for not mincing his words while giving his opinion as he has made a big statement on Rohit Sharma's Test captaincy. The 40-year-old deems Rohit's appointment as India's Test skipper was an emotional decision which was taken by BCCI selectors.
It all started with Virat Kohli's decision to step down from the leadership role right after India's 1-2 loss at the hands of Proteas in the longest format earlier this year. As the selectors didn't have much options for the coveted post, Rohit was unanimously declared to take over the reins of the side though he was already captaining the Men in Blue in ODIs and T20Is.
Rohit's appointment as India's Test skipper also opened a whole lot of debate. Many were of the opinion that the BCCI must look beyond Rohit given his age 35, then 34 and a history of injuries which also made him skip many important fixtures in the last couple of years.
Yuvraj, who played under Rohit during his time at Mumbai Indians, lavished massive praises on the batter’s leadership skills. He also reckons the right-handed batter should have been named the white-ball captain a while ago.
“Excellent leader. I played under him when I was playing for Mumbai Indians. Very good thinker, very good captain. Rohit should have been the captain at least in the white-ball cricket a while ago. But since Virat was doing so well and the team was also doing well it wasn’t easy,” Yuvraj said.
“I felt it was an emotional decision to make him a captain in Test cricket. When they made him captain it was announced subject to fitness. You cannot announce your Test captain subject to fitness. He is getting injured a lot. He is at that age where he must look after his body,” Yuvraj further asserted.
It was under Rohit's captaincy that Mumbai Indians (MI) clinched five IPL trophies. Not just this but Team India has also excelled since November last year. The 2011 World Cup's 'Player of the series' however feels that Rohit's fitness will put extra pressure on him going forward.
“It will add pressure to him on Test captaincy as well. It’s been only a couple of years since he started opening the innings in Test cricket. He has been playing well. Let the guy focus on his batting in Test cricket. I hope he enjoys, it’s not easy standing for 5 days in the park,” he added.
