Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar feels that captaincy in red-ball cricket is more difficult as compared to white-ball but he claims that Rohit Sharma is ready for the challenge. The BCCI appointed Rohit as the new captain in Test format after Virat Kohli decided to relinquish his position earlier this year. Kohli finished as India’s most successful captain with 40 wins out of 68 Tests and a win-loss ratio of 2.353. Rohit will start his Test captaincy journey with two-match series against Sri Lanka and he has to take a big legacy forward created by Kohli.
The Hitman returned to Team India’s red-ball set-up when Kohli and then head coach Ravi Shastri decided to play him as an opener. Rohit grabbed the opportunity with both hands and cemented his place with consistent performances at the top.
Agarkar feels that leading the Test side will be a huge honour for him and the impressive batting performances in England last year will help him gain confidence in leadership.
“Firstly, it will be a huge honour for him. Yeah, he has led India for a few games in white-ball cricket, not just as full-time captain but before as well,” Agarkar told Star Sports.
“The one thing that will do him good is the series that he had in England. The batting would have given him a lot of faith. As a leader, you want to be one of the better players in the team so that you can demand things from other people.”
Rohit performed exceedingly well on England’s tour as he scored 368 runs in 4 Tests, including a hundred and 2 fifties and silenced critics of his overseas performances.
Agarkar further feels starting the new journey in home conditions will help Rohit.
“Plus, he has got the necessary experience in terms of captaincy. Test cricket will be a bit different but at least he is starting in India where the conditions are familiar. It’s a very strong squad that India has, I don’t think it will be a problem for him,” Agarkar added.
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