(Image Source: AP)
[Saba Sports News] India’s cricket team, with different captains for each format, is set for a multi-format series against South Africa, featuring T20Is, ODIs, and Tests. KL Rahul will lead the ODI team, Suryakumar Yadav the T20I, and Rohit Sharma the Tests. Ex-cricketer Irfan Pathan expressed concerns about this approach.
“This could be a sign for the future, which I am not a big fan of. There has been talk for a long time about whether we can do split captaincy. It’s true workload management has been done here, and that is why you are seeing such big squads and different captains,” Pathan said.
On Star Sports’ Game Plan, he mentioned that while workload management is a factor, he’s not in favor of split captaincy and the possibility of different format-specific coaches.
Pathan highlighted India’s tradition of a consistent coach and captain, contrasting it with other international teams. He stressed that with most Indian players participating in all formats, it’s preferable to have a unified leadership.
“It’s clear that Rohit Sharma had to take a break from white-ball cricket, so you are not seeing him there. You are seeing him as the captain of Test cricket. However, you might see these things going forward. You might even see different coaches for different formats. I believe it’s better if it doesn’t happen in our culture,” Pathan added.
“If we see white-ball and red-ball cricket, we only have two or three players who are different, where you can consider players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. However, if you see other than that, we generally have all-format players. If we talk about our youngsters, you will see Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill playing everywhere. So most of our players are like that, who play all formats. That’s why if you have 70 to 80% players who play all formats, it’s better if the coach and captain are also the same,” he concluded.