Rohit Wasn't Keen to Become Test Captain Initially, BCCI Chief and Secretary Had to Convince Him: Report

India’s loss at the hands of Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) has put Rohit Sharma’s leadership under the scanner. Chasing a mammoth 444 in the final innings, India were bowled out for 234 in the morning session of the fifth day. The loss allowed Australia to lift the prestigious mace, becoming the only cricket team across the world to have won all ICC trophies.

After the humiliating defeat, Rohit’s captaincy in the longest format for the game might take a hit. India will now travel to the Caribbean for a 2-match Test series in July and according to PTI, if the skipper fails to play even a single big knock, the BCCI top brass and the national selection committee will be under pressure to take a tough call.

Rohit took over India’s Test captaincy last year as Virat Kohli stepped down from the post following an unsuccessful South Africa tour. According to the Press Trust of India, once Kohli quit Test captaincy after the 2-1 defeat in the Rainbow Nation, Rohit wasn’t very keen to become the leader in the longest format initially as he didn’t know whether his body would hold or not.

“The two top men at that time (former president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah) had to convince him to take up the role once KL Rahul failed to impress as a captain in South Africa,” the news agency quoted a source as saying.

Since Rohit took over Test captaincy in 2022, India played 10 Tests and he missed three, one in England due to COVID-19 and two in Bangladesh due to split webbing. He scored 390 runs in 7 Tests and had an average of 35.45 in 11 completed innings with a single hundred and no other score above 50.

The anonymous source quoted by PTI has clearly said the BCCI isn’t rushing into getting rid of Rohit as the Test captain. However, a call on his future would be taken before the next South Africa tour, later this year in December, given the age of the Indian captain.

“These are baseless stuff that Rohit will be removed from captaincy. Yes, whether he will last the whole two-year WTC cycle is a big question as he would be nearly 38 when the third edition ends in 2025,” the source was quoted as saying by the PTI.

(From Inputs from PTI)