World Cup wasn't Rohit's but India needs its captain for at least 2 more years

Rohit Sharma must have felt very lonely as he walked up the long staircase of the Motera Stadium while shaking hands with whoever came his way on the catastrophic Sunday nightA World Cup final defeat like this might have felt like a stab in the chest He needed to quickly leave that arenaWhile it may appear that the world has collapsed around Rohit Sharma now is the time more than ever that the Indian cricket team needs him at the helm for at least two more years in longer formatsAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 Players to impress most in the tournamentWhen Rahul Dravids captaincy stint ended in 2007 Dhoni was a ready replacement in the team and when Dhoni departed there was already a succession plan in the form of Virat Kohli And Rohit was ready to take the mantle from KohliBut in a team where the youngsters are years away from taking the leadership role the selectors will have no choice but to continue with RohitListening to coach Rahul Dravid you get an idea how invested he was in his team and perhaps the reason every ounce of emotion seemed to have been sucked out of his system after Sundays debacleAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 Aussies clinch their sixth titleHes been an exceptional leader Rohits really led this team fantastically Hes given so much of his time and energy in the dressing room to the boys Hes always been available for any of our conversations any of our meetings Dravid said after the matchCaptain Sharma spoilt us in the last six weeks with his daredevil batting at top the way he used his bowlers and for bringing a dash of humour every now and then during a tense campaign And just like his effortless pullshots Rohit never had to try being funny He has that streak in himAnd when you see him broken somewhere a part of you also breakHes given a lot of his personal time energy into this campaign And he wanted to lead by example Right through the tournament he was quite superb in doing that I just cant speak more highly of him as a person and as a leader Dravid addedRohit is 36 plus and in 2027 he will be 40 when South Africa host the next World Cup Perhaps the chance of winning a 50over World Cup which his opposite Pat Cumins termed as the pinnacle of sport has passed by himBut instead of finding a quick replacement of him the Indian cricket authorities should have Rohit leading the bunch for the next two years which would be very important for Indian cricket before it once again starts hitting another transition buttonObviously at his age Rohit will have to pick and choose the bilateral ODI series especially the whiteball ones that he wants to playIn Test cricket he has been Indias best batter across all conditions in the post COVID19 phase and the team needs him more than everThe new World Test Championship WTC cycle has just started and it would end in 2025 along with ICC Champions TrophyIndian cricket actually needs Rohit Sharma as its leader and mentor till that time and this has to be nonnegotiableThe reason being India does not have any readymade captain for ODIs and Test matchesFor T20 Internationals they have earmarked Hardik Pandya but for ODIs one needs a different mindset and even though Hardik was designated deputy during the World Cup his fitness and workload would always be an issueThere are two more choices though KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah who did lead India in a oneoff Test series and a mini T20 series in IrelandBut both Rahul and Bumrah havent exactly looked like mature captainsRahul has been an IPL captain for long leading Kings XI Pujab and Lucknow Super Ginats but is yet to win a titleHe also led India on the 202122 tour of South Africa but lost one Test and all three ODIsAnd herein lies the problem Captain Sharma has imbibed a different playing philosophy in this team and for that to continue he needs to be in best frame of mind and lead the team in at least two formatsThe BCCI and national selection committee needs to give him time to groom his heir to the hot seatThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever