Former India head coach Ravi Shastri compared the leadership styles of Test captain Virat Kohli and white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma.
Having recently seen his tenure as Team India head coach come to an end, Ravi Shastri gave his backing to new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma and also to red-ball skipper Virat Kohli. Rohit recently became India’s full-time white-ball captain, replacing Kohli in that role. The move by the BCCI to replace Kohli received polarising reactions from the cricketing fraternity, with some supporting the decision and others criticising it. Kohli had stepped down from India’s T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup but had stated his aim to remain as ODI and Test skipper. But the selectors had other plans and replaced him with Rohit as captain in limited-over cricket. Speaking to Star Sports, Shastri compared the duo to former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.
“When you look at the two and compare their captaincy, reminds me of Sunny and Kapil. Kapil the more Virat-like, spontaneous, instinctive, goes with the gut feeling; Rohit, more like Gavaskar– calculated, extremely efficient, very calm and composed”, he said.
“I don’t think the team really worried too much about what was on the outside. They were professionals”, he further added.
Kohli is currently leading India in a three-match Test series against South Africa with Rohit missing out. The Mumbai Indians captain sustained a left hamstring injury during training in Mumbai.
The first Test match began on Sunday and is taking place at the Centurion. The team management has made some big decisions with Ajinkya Rahane getting the nod at the expense of Hanuma Vihari. Meanwhile, they have also gone ahead with five bowlers for the match.