Rohit Sharma praises Virat Kohli; 'His presence is very important, still a leader of team'

In a surprise move on Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Rohit Sharma as India's ODI captain, ending Virat Kohli's four-year stint at the top job. Even before the decision was made public last evening, there have been discussions around Kohli's role in the team with Rohit taking over as captain. However, the Mumbai batter has lavished praise on Kohli, calling him an "important member" of the side. Rohit said the kind of experience that Kohli has is always required, implying that the Test skipper is going to remain an integral part of the team.

"Quality of Virat Kohli kind of batter is always needed in the squad. To have an average of 50-plus in the T20 format, it's crazy, it's unreal. With the experience that he has, he has bailed India out so many times from difficult situations. So, the quality and his kind of batsmanship are required, and also he is still the leader of the team. With all of that in mind, you don't want to miss out on Virat. Moving forward, his presence and importance to the squad are critical. It will only strengthen our squad," Rohit said in his interview with Boria Majumdar.

Rohit was appointed the T20I captain of Team India earlier last month. Virat Kohli had announced prior to the recently-concluded T20 World Cup that he will step down from the position after the marquee ICC event, which he did as soon as India were eliminated from the competition. Rohit played his first T20I series as full-time captain in November against a visiting New Zealand side. India managed to whitewash the Kiwis by 3-0 under his captaincy.

Kohli as ODI captain

Kohli was made the ODI captain back in 2017 after MS Dhoni stepped down as skipper before the Champions Trophy. Since then, Kohli has captained the team in 95 ODI matches, of those he has won 65 and lost 27, putting his win percentage at 70.43%, which is the highest amongst all of Team India's former ODI captains. India has won 15 of the 19 bilateral ODI series they have played under Kohli's leadership suffering only four losses. Of those 19, nine have been played in India, and Kohli has managed to win eight of them. Kohli has won ODI series in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and West Indies.

Image: BCCI