Rohit Sharma has led his team finely going throughout the Champions Trophy and has taken them to the final of marquee event. However, with age catching up the veteran batter and only two years left to go for the ODI World Cup, a major decision could be made by the BCCI regarding Rohit’s captaincy based on the outcome of Champions Trophy.
As per Times of India report citing sources, BCCI could have a ‘tough discussion’ over moving on from Rohit Sharma as the Indian captain in ODIs and Tests. Notably, Rohit has retired from T20 format after helping the team win the major tournament last year.
Reportedly, Rohit Sharma still believes that he has some cricket left in him and BCCI has asked the Indian captain to communicate his plans going forward.
A BCCI source told TOI, “Retiring is his call but there will be another discussion around continuing with captaincy. Rohit himself understands the need to have a stable captain if the team wants to prepare for a World Cup. There have been talks with Kohli too but there doesn’t seem to be much anxiety around him,”
BCCI to revisit annual contracts after Champions Trophy:
The report suggests that BCCI also wants to revisit its central contract after the Champions Trophy final. Particularly, the board may want to make changes to the Grade A+ contracts where Rohit, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja sit.
The BCCI policy had earlier hinted that players who perform in all three formats will be preferred for A+ contracts and with Kohli, Jadeja and Rohit all retiring from T20I’s there could be some concerns within the Indian cricket board.
Meanwhile, players like Axar Patel, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant could see a potential promotion to the A category.
Shreyas Iyer is likely to win back his central contract after he was removed last year due to disciplinary issues. Kohli has sort of strengthened his case with a superlative show in the Champions Trophy so far.
Shreyas Iyer could also see himself back in the BCCI’s good graces after missing out on the contract last year owing to disciplinary issues.
