Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar wonders what is the need for India to go for split captaincy while Virat Kohli has been doing such an excellent job as the leader in all three formats of the game. (More Cricket News)
"My theory on split captaincy is that you don't go looking for split captains," Manjrekar said during his show 'Ask Sanjay' on his YouTube channel.
Many believe that Rohit Sharma, who is Kohli's deputy in the white-ball formats, should be allowed to share the load. Rohit has an exceptional record as India captain, and a mighty impressive track record in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
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For the record, he is the most successful captain in the IPL, helping Mumbai Indians win four titles, to Kohli's none as the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In the Test, Ajinkya Rahane is the vice-captain.
"So if you are fortunate to have a captain who is good in all three formats and still is a good captain then you don't need split captaincy and at the moment we have got Virat Kohli who is excellent in all three formats so there is no need for India to have split captaincy," Rohit added.
Several top nations around the world have different captains in different formats but Team India are one of the few teams who have the same leader across formats.
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Australia have Tim Paine in Tests while Aaron Finch takes over the role in white-ball cricket. Similarly, Joe Root leads England in the longest and shortest formats, but hands over the armband to Eoin Morgan in ODIs. The same is with Pakistan.
"There might come a time in future when India will go for it but it is not something that you seek. If there is a situation when India have an excellent Test captain and Test player but not good enough to be in 50-over format or T20Is then maybe you have a different captain but India at the moment is quite blessed.
"In the past as well when Dhoni was captaining in all formats because he was good in all formats," Manjrekar explained.
Earlier, former England skipper Nasser Hussain had said that an "imposing character" like Kohli will not be comfortable sharing power and hence split captaincy will not work in Indian cricket.
"It depends on the character, Virat (Kohli) is such an imposing character, all encompassing, it would be difficult for him to hand over, he wouldn't want to hand anything over. Whereas with England, we have (Eoin) Morgan and (Joe) Root, two likeable, laidback (characters)," Hussain had said during a podcast on Cricbuzz.
