With Rohit Sharma looking forward to his first assignment as India’s full-time white-ball captain with upcoming series against West Indies, former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar feels that the biggest challenge for him as skipper will be to cope with his fitness issues. (More Cricket News)
It is worth noting that Rohit had suffered a hamstring injury when the Indian team hosted New Zealand in T20Is in November 2021 and therefore he missed the following tour to South Africa. Agarkar is of the opinion that Rohit is not as “extremely fit” as his predecessors MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
"I believe his (Rohit Sharma’s) biggest challenge will be to remain fit. We have seen of late that he has got a few injuries. The captains who were there before him - Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni - their strength was that both were extremely fit and they missed matches very few times in their careers," Agarkar said in a conversation with Star Sports on its show Game Plan.
"So that will be a challenge because when you play all the games, it will be easier for you to build the team. You will be able to see closely how each player reacts in a given situation. So that will be the key for him because he has the leadership qualities and we have seen that as well,” he added.
India play three ODIs against West Indies starting February 6 in Ahmedabad, which will be followed by T20I series of as many matches in Kolkata.
Agarkar pointed out that even though Rohit has earlier captained the Indian side in the absence of regular skipper, he will now face a different challenge as full-time captain as he would have to prepare the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup this year and the ODI World Cup the following year.
"Generally, there is a feel for the game required for a captain, it seems he has that. The responsibility will be different now because when you are a stand-in captain, you are there for a series or few matches but here you have to prepare a team for the next World Cup - whether it is T20 or 50-over," said Agarkar.
