Change Of Guard In Indian ODI Captaincy, Virat Kohli Replaced By Rohit Sharma!

Fame, glory, and money! These are some of the byproducts of success in any field. But where it comes to Sports such as Cricket, something the country is totally obsessed with, these are starry realities of life. And yet, something must be said in no uncertain terms and it’s that these three aren’t the only byproducts of pursuing cricket well and succeeding in it.

There’s more to what the game does to you than you’d ever imagine in India.

And if one was to actually look around for examples, then looking at the slight greying as evident on Virat Kohli’s hair, facial hair included, would give a real good example of what it means to attain fame and success in cricket.

Being a renowned cricketer in India, truth be known, can do both- make you a household name, something the former ODI captain of India, yes “former,” Virat Kohli is, but also at the cost of being burdened with too much responsibility.

Ever thought about that? The constant pressure and the enormity of challenge being India’s cricket captain puts on one’s shoulder can make one do interesting things. Some lose weight, while most others grow beards, in both cases, it seems one’s not exactly having a ball of a time all the time, as one would note.

It’s been two years that Virat Kohli scored an international century and now as the buck seems to have stopped with Rohit Sharma, the latest ODI captain, one can again start hoping that the legendary right-hander will finally find a way to end his dry patch.

Of late, Rohit was anyways being tipped for the big role but Kohli was being seen as someone who was perhaps being burdened by a challenge that was always enormous.

Now all of that has changed and in what one could say is a massive new beginning for Indian cricket, a new sense of direction has been reached.

This is with regards to what squad will actually travel to South Africa and under whose leadership.

Meanwhile, the following is what Virat Kohli had happened to share to the administrators of the game in India:

“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for the last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” said the BCCI statement.

Having said that, there is something that none can refute and it’s the winning percentage and a high level of success in the white ball 50 over game garnered by Virat Kohli.

Also Read: What Does His Association With Rahul Dravid Mean For Virat Kohli?

That will always be a thing to cherish for any ODI captain, a feat very few are able to match and even fewer can target beating for records’ sake.

But to elaborate on that more, it’s vital to look at what Rohit Sharma’s famous predecessor did go onto to achieve as India’s ODI captain. Here’s an excerpt from India Today that better explains that:

There is no doubting Kohli’s record as ODI captain but India’s inability to win a major ICC title in the last 4 years has been seen as a cause for concern.

In fact, Kohli has the best average (72.65) for ODI captains (lead in a minimum of 75 matches) in the history of the sport with 5449 runs and 21 hundreds. AB de Villiers has the next best average — 63.94 in 103 matches.

Only 3 captains — Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting and Hansie Cronje have a better win percentage than Kohli.