Rohit Sharma was appointed India's ODI and T20I captain on Wednesday. The opening batter, who captained India in the T20Is against New Zealand, will now take up the full-time responsibility as India's captain in limited-overs cricket. Rohit will take over from Virat Kohli in the 50-over format, from the three-match ODI series in South Africa. "The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward," said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an official release. Reactions came in from all the spheres of the cricketing world as Rohit Sharma was also named vice-captain to Virat Kohli in Tests.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan applauded BCCI's decision to give the limited-overs captaincy in the hands of Rohit Sharma. He wrote:
"Very good decision."
ICC hailed BCCI's decision to appoint Rohit as captain in the limited over format and called it the "beginning of a new era" and wrote:
"Virat Kohli - Rohit Sharma. Beginning of a new era for India men's limited-overs cricket."
IPL franchise Mumbai Indians wrote:
"India's number 45 is all set to lead the Men in Blue in white ball cricket."
Eminent cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle explained with a possible reasoning as to how Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid will take the game forward in the country. He wrote:
"However great a player Virat Kohli is, this is the time to reach out to him. It is inevitable he will feel a sense of loss. It is always tricky with two captains when both are playing all formats and it is critical Dravid, Kohli and Rohit are comfortable and have a common vision."
Senior sports journalist Ayaz Memon also highlighted the role of Rahul Dravid for the Indian cricket team going forward. He wrote:
"In this period of transition in Indian cricket, as captaincy for different formats is recast and dressing room dynamics change, Rahul Dravid has a big role to play in the interplay between #ViratKohli and #RohitSharma: as buffer, bridge and big brother."
India's senior selection committee also confirmed that Rohit has replaced Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain for the three-match Test series in South Africa starting on December 26. Rahane, however, kept his place in the squad. Top players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, who were rested in the two-match home series against New Zealand, expectedly made a comeback to the side.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked an 18-member squad for the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa starting from 26th December 2021. The Test series will form a part of the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship," BCCI said.
India's Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.
Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
BCCI also confirmed that Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Rahul Chahar were sidelined due to injuries.
"The following players were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar," BCCI added.
India are slated to play three Tests in South Africa starting with the Boxing Day Test match in Centurion on December 26 followed by the second and third Test in Johannesburg (January 3) and in Cape Town (January 11) respectively.
The series was originally slated to begin on December 17 but was pushed back due to the rising cases of Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant, in South Africa.