BCCI considering split captaincy, Rohit Sharma may retain ODI-Tests job, Hardik Pandya likely choice for T20Is

Ever since Rohit Sharma-led Team India exited the T20 World Cup semifinal after a harrowing 10-wicket loss to eventual champions England, there has been a lot of talk about Rohit and the captaincy in the shortest format. The 35-year-old has been rested for the New Zealand tour, with Hardik Pandya filling in his shoes, but as per a PTI report, the BCCI may well well for a permanent change. 

The Indian board may finally opt for split captaincy, something they were unwilling to do at the beginning of the year, when Virat Kohli wanted to continue as the captain in ODIs and Tests, having given up captaincy in T20I cricket. 

Rohit took over the job in all three formats after the new year, and now it seems that he could be about to suffer a similar fate as BCCI look likely to split the captaincy for all three formats. Rohit may yet continue in ODI and Test cricket but Hardik Pandya could be given the leadership duty in T20Is, after his success with Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL. 

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After sacking the Chetan Sharma-led five-member selection committee, BCCI have invited applications for five new selectors, and the job description has an interesting detail. 

The new chairman’s job mandate has an interesting description of “selecting captain in each format” which suggests that BCCI might be moving towards split captaincy in near future.

The new selection committee will thus be tasked with choosing a new captain although Rohit seems best placed to continue in ODIs and Test cricket, however, Hardik is leading the race in the shortest format. 

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With the T20 World Cup 2024 set to be hosted in USA and the West Indies, Pandya could be handed the reigns as a T20 specialist, after reinventing himself since recovering from the back issues which threatened to end his career. 

While it remains to be seen whether the BCCI indeed go with split captaincy, with the number of games and workload management becoming an issue, it only makes sense to have two captains sharing the load between them. 

It certainly has been the blueprint that other nations like Australia and England have been following for a while, so it only makes sense that the BCCI should also wake up before it’s too late. 

With inputs from PTI