The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be schizophrenic in its approach to the game which is virtually a religion in every part of this country. While deciding to have separate captains for the white-ball cricket and the Test matches some months ago, the body did a volte-face on Saturday to restore the original arrangement which implies that swashbuckling opening batsman, Rohit Sharma shall be the Captain for all formats. He has been handed over the Test captaincy for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and it is most unlikely that he would be replaced soon if he can win. Rohit is a gifted player who has done tremendously well for the team despite having fitness problems, and if he can maintain his physical endurance, he shall be an asset for the country.
Along with Virat Kohli who had to leave under circumstances that were created to ensure his resignation and sacking as the ODI captain, Rohit is one of the most feared batsmen in the world today. Captaining India is a reward that has been earned by this prolific scorer of runs and his performance as the skipper of Mumbai Indians has amply demonstrated that he is a good leader of men as well. Rohit was expected to make his Test debut before Cheteshwar Pujara against South Africa in 2010 but had to miss out after sustaining an injury during warm-up before the toss in Nagpur. He is a hard striker of the ball and after Virendra Sehwag, the most entertaining Indian cricketer when he gets going.
Rohit’s appointment comes after the selectors decided to drop both Pujara and Ajinkye Rahane following a string of failures with the bat. However, Rahane had recently scored a century in a Ranji outing and many felt that he may be in the reckoning for Test Captaincy. Whether it is the end of both Rahane and Pujara will be determined by their future performances in domestic cricket. Without taking away the merit of the decision in naming Rohit as the Skipper, it needs to be pointed out that for the past few months, the re-assertion of the powerful West Zone lobby seems to be conspicuous. It was probably on the account of this power centre and also its understanding with the BCCI Chief, Saurav Ganguly, that Virat Kohli was moved out of his status as the Captain of all the three formats.
The Machiavellian machinations of the BCCI seem to have affected Kohli very badly and he appears to be a pale shadow of his original self. His self-belief has been shaken and when he plays his 100th test match on home soil soon, all attention would be on him. A big score has been eluding him for long, but exceptional players have their own ways of making their bat do the talking. The BCCI should stop playing politics that is not in the overall interest of either the team or the country. This unnecessary domination by one zone over the others is not a good sign for the game which has attracted players from even small towns to make it big at the Test and international levels. Rohit shall prove to be a successful captain too but indications are that the BCCI may take a call on the Captain when India leaves for Australia later this year. However, if he has been named, no effort should be made to erode his confidence and he must be allowed to retain the captaincy in the future as well.