'He is the better choice' – Virat Kohli’s childhood coach backs Rohit Sharma to take Indian team to new heights

Indian captain Rohit Sharma will be captaining the side for the first time since being appointed the captain of the limited-overs side in February against the West Indies. India will be playing three ODIs and three T20Is against the 2016 T20 WC champions. Rohit was appointed the captain of the ODI team last year after selectors decided to remove Virat Kohli from this position.

After losing the Test series against Proteas by a 2-1 margin, Kohli decided to step down from his position of Test captain as well. Rohit is the frontrunner for this job because of various reasons including he was appointed the vice-captain of the side last year. There are a few more options for the Indian selectors to look at including limited-overs vice-captain KL Rahul.

Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma believes that Rohit is the perfect replacement for Kohli because he features in all three formats. Also, he added that Rohit has the experience of leading the Mumbai Indians team in IPL to the trophy on five occasions. Rajkumar believes that Rohit can take the Indian team to a new height.

“I don’t think there is any contender apart from Rohit Sharma because there is no other player whose place is certain in all three formats. So I believe he is the better choice and he has done excellent captaincy in the IPL and whenever he has got a chance for the Indian team. I have full expectation that he will take the Indian team to newer heights,” Rajkumar said in an interview with India News.

It becomes easy if Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid are on the same page: Rajkumar Sharma

Rajkumar further added that the process of picking a team becomes easy if both the captain and the coach are on the same page. He further mentioned that the selectors should give the team that Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid wants.

“Every captain has his own choice and every captain desires to get the players he wants and generally that happens as well. It becomes easy if Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid are on the same page, if the captain and coach want a particular team, the selectors feel it right to give them that team. This should happen also and I feel that will happen as well,” he added.