Rohit Sharma, who was announced as India’s new One-Day International captain by the BCCI on Wednesday, hailed former skipper Virat Kohli’s contributions to the team as a batter in white-ball cricket.
In an interview with Boria Majumdar recorded before he was announced as ODI captain, Rohit Kohli’s role as a batter in the Indian team.
“A batter of Kohli’s quality is always needed in the squad,” said Rohit on the show ‘Backstage with Boria’.
“To have an average of 50 plus in the T20 format, it is crazy and unreal. Obviously, with the experience... he has batted and bailed India out so many times from difficult situations.
“The quality and his kind of batsmanship is required. Plus, he is still a leader of the team. All those things put together, you don’t want to miss out. You don’t want to ignore that kind of stuff. His presence is very important to the team.”
Kohli’s led India in 95 ODIs and registered 65 victories for a win percentage of 70.43. He scored 5449 runs as ODI captain, including 21 centuries.
Speaking about his enviable record as Mumbai Indians captain in the IPL, Rohit credit the players in the squad for the success.
“What I have done at Mumbai is brilliant because of the players I have had. Honestly speaking, I have very little role to play there. The team that I had was fantastic. I want to give credit to, firstly, the management for creating such solid gun players and then creating that atmosphere for players to go and perform,” Rohit further said.
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