NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma will stay on as captain of India’s Test and one-day teams, the country’s cricket board said, after he ended his T20 international career with a World Cup triumph.
Senior batsman Sharma led India to the T20 title last month, ending the cricket-mad nation’s global trophy drought since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Sharma, 37, Virat Kohli, 35, and Ravindra Jadeja, 35, announced their T20 exit after the win over South Africa in the final in Barbados.
It was also the last match for outgoing coach Rahul Dravid.
“After this victory, the next stage is the 2025 WTC (World Test Championship) final and the Champions Trophy,” Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said in a video message. “I am truly confident that we will win both the tournaments under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.”
Shah praised the trio of veteran players, as well as Dravid.
“This was our third final in the last one year,” Shah said, referring to the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship.
The ODI Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in February and March 2025 in Pakistan, a nation which India has refused to tour in recent times due to political tensions.
The World Test Championship cycle will end in June 2025 with the final at Lord’s in London. India have twice finished runners-up in the Test championship, losing the final to Australia last year.
Sharma’s India also lost the ODI final to Australia at home in 2023. He took over the captaincy of the white-ball team in 2021 and became the all-format leader a year later.
Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2024
