Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli: 'Hitman' surpasses 'King Kohli' in numbers as India's captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced the Team India squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting November 17. This tour will mark the beginning of a new era in Indian Cricket with Rohit Sharma appointed as the national cricket team's full-time captain in the shortest format of the game and former skipper Rahul Dravid resuming his duties as the new head coach.

As Rohit Sharma gears up to succeed Virat Kohli as the Indian team's captain in T20Is, here's a look at some of his impeccable records which Kohli himself could not achieve during his captaincy stint in the shortest format.

India T20I captaincy: How is Rohit Sharma ahead of Virat Kohli?

Rohit Sharma is the only Indian player, and the sixth cricket captain, to win his first four T20I matches as skipper. The 'Hitman' had achieved this feat during the series-deciding third T20I against South Africa at Cape Town in February 2018.

Another important thing that stands out here is that Rohit is the only Indian batter to have breached the three-figure mark in T20I cricket and in fact, the dynamic opener has registered four centuries to his name. On the other hand, Virat Kohli's highest individual score in the shortest format is an unbeaten 94 that he had scored during a bilateral home series against West Indies in December 2019.

Apart from T20 Internationals, Rohit's captaincy stint in the game's shortest format has proved to be more successful than the former Team India T20I skipper. Sharma has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL triumphs (2013,2015,2017,2019 & 2020). Under Virat's captaincy, Royal Challengers Bangalore finished as the runners-up in 2016 season and were knocked out in the Eliminator of the 2020 & 2021 editions respectively.

With a win percentage of nearly 80, the newly appointed Indian T20I captain's captaincy record is better than that of Kohli's 60.  Another important thing that needs special mention here is that Rohit Sharma has led the Indian team to a multi-nation tournament triumph in the shortest format while Virat Kohli has not managed any during his stint. The 'Hitman' had led India to a Nidhas Trophy triumph (tri-series also involving Sri Lanka) in March 2018. He was appointed as the stand-in captain as regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested for the series. 

India vs New Zealand: Team India squad

Here's the Team India squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand.

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan