Will a group stage exit in the T20 World Cup for India spell the end of Kohli as ODI captain?

[street cricketer]

Kohli was seen as the untouchable star personality in Indian cricket for a long time and what he wanted happened, including the expulsion of Kumble as the Indian coach due to compatibility issues. But recently his powers have become seemingly reduced with Ganguly and Jay Shah getting to the helm of the affairs and there was a conscious media directed effort to oust him from the T20 captaincy job after many failures as captain of the RCB and Indian team in ICC tournaments. There's always a strong Mumbai lobby in Indian cricket which has for a long time advocated, and probably rightly so too, for Rohit to take up the captaincy of the Indian team after his stupendous success with the Mumbai Indians.

Kohli has already indicated he will abdicate his job as the captain in T20Is and RCB after this year. Would a group stage exit from the world T20 be the final nail in the coffin and spell the end of Kohli's position as the captain of the ODI team too? Will there be pressure from outside for Rohit to take over the reins as the ODI captain as well for the upcoming home world cup?

 

[sweep_shot]

I feel Rohit should be the ODI captain. Kohli should only handle Test captaincy.

 

[MenInG]

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri says Virat Kohli might give up captaincy in other formats after doing so in the T20 version to deal with the intense pressure associated with the job, especially in COVID times. Shastri's tenure with the Indian team ended with an early exit from T20 World Cup. Kohli, who has taken rest for the T20 series and one Test against New Zealand to recover bubble fatigue in COVID times, has relinquished captaincy in the shortest format after the showpiece event.

Speaking to India Today, Shastri was asked about Kohli giving up captaincy in other formats to manage his workload better.

"In red ball cricket, India have been number one for the last five years under his captaincy. Unless, he wants to give it up or he is mentally fatigued where he says he wants to focus on my batting which can happen in the near future.

"It wont happen immediately but it can happen. The same might happen with white ball cricket, he might say he had enough and he focuses on Test captaincy. It is his mind and body that will make that decision. He won't be the first.

"A lot of successful players have given up captaincy to focus on their batting for their side." Shastri said Kohli remains the fittest cricketer in the team by far.

"He is hungry for sure, fitter than anybody in the team. No doubt about that. When you are physically that fit, your longevity only increases. On the captaincy part of it, it will be his decision but I see if anything he might say no to white ball cricket but red ball, he should carry on because he has been the best ambassador for the Test cricket. That will make him carry on," said Shastri.

Shastri also foresees many players in the team, including Kohli taking long breaks to recover from bubble fatigue. He also spoke on the relevance of split captaincy in COVID times.

"Especially, in these times it will reduce the pressure on the individual. A lot of players will take breaks. I foresee lot of plays wanting breaks and rightly so. You need to switch off from the game from time to time."

Shastri reiterated that playing World Cup right after IPL was not ideal for the team but didn't want to blame BCCI as the re-scheduling happened because of COVID-19.

"I won't say that but because IPL was cancelled in April, they had no choice. But I don't think that will happen in the future. Kapil is right about the scheduling part because it will take its toll," he said when asked to comment on Kapil Dev's statement on players prioritising IPL over country.

"It is not just the BCCI, every board has to be careful on scheduling. Don't forget, we play more cricket than any other team in the world, if you add the IPL."

New Zealand and Australia face in the final on Sunday.

"The teams that are playing in the final on Sunday, they have hardly played in the last 6 months and you can see the difference. They have played enough to keep themselves sharp but they have got enough round of rest, at times forced as well," Shastri said.

https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/vir...ocus-on-his-batting-says-ravi-shastri-2608743

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Fair play to India for planning ahead for the future by selecting a “34” year old captain for LOI.

 

[pillionrider]

So Shastri freed from the bonds of being coach effectively saying what a lot of us have been hoping for. Kohli sticking to test captaincy. A WTC loss is something worth sacrificing, if that's the only way he'll let go of ODI captaincy

 

[Saj]

Seems like some are guiding him towards Test captaincy only and leave the white-ball roles to others.

 

[oatmeal]

Bcci might end up sticking with Kohli till the 2023 WC.

But if they want Rohit Sharma to lead the side at the world cup it's better to ask Kohli to step aside soon and give Sharma time to build the side

 

[JaDed]

BCCI clearly wants to see how Rohit handles T20 series but imo should just hand him the ODI captaincy and see how he does in both formats.( He already did well in two tournaments)

We need to back Rahul(unfortunately) and Gill in ODI as well.

Iyer imo does seem like a good captain but doesn’t necessarily make it into the team.

Our transition is going to be tough but it’s up for grabs : Gill , Shaw , Devdutt, Iyer , Pant should all focus on becoming their best, the positions are open to be the next big one in India.