There was no surprise, Rohit Sharma had to be India's Test captain: Sunil Gavaskar

Veteran batter and commentator Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rohit Sharma appointment as India’s Test captain is no surprise as he is one of the few players who are sure to play across all three formats for the country. Sharma was announced as the Test skipper when Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Chetan Sharma named the squad for the T20I and Test series against Sri Lanka at home.

Much to a surprise for cricket fraternity, India former Test captain Virat Kohli stepped down from his role following series loss against South Africa at their home. Since then,  there was a lot of speculation about who would take over in the longest format of the game.

In a conversation with Sports Tak, Gavaskar said, “The guy who is a certainty in all three formats – when the selection committee sits down and think of who are the certainties, then Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s names will come up. And between them, Kohli is not doing captaincy, so it had to be Rohit Sharma. There was no surprise there.”

Players seem to have clarity in terms of their roles in the team, Gavaskar on Sharma captaincy

Along with Rohit Sharma, there were names of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah in the mix. However, Sharma name was always on the favorite list as he was already named the captain for the white ball format for Men in Blue, despite his fitness issue. Rohit has scored 3047 runs at an average of 46.88 in 43 Test matches he has played so far.

“The way he has handled the team. The way players are getting clarity. I won’t say there wasn’t clarity earlier. That would be wrong to say as I was not in the dressing room, so I don’t know. But from the way he speaks, it seems like the players know their roles. And they know what the team expects from them and what the captain expects from them, ” Gavaskar added.