'End of an era' - Twitter reacts as Rohit Sharma displaces Virat Kohli as India's ODI skipper

Rohit has also replaced Ajinkya Rahane as India's Test vice-captain.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Rohit Sharma
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Rohit Sharma. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Mere weeks after being named India’s T20I skipper, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the team’s ODI skipper, replacing Virat Kohli ahead of the South Africa tour, while he also takes over the Test vice-captaincy from Ajinkya Rahane.

The decision to elevate Rohit did not come as a surprise, as even though Kohli had not relinquished ODI captaincy, adopting a split model for the red- and white-ball teams has been the most widely-accepted and contemporaneous mode of sharing leadership responsibilities.

Rohit recently led the team to a 3-0 victory in the home T20I series against New Zealand in his maiden series as the team’s full-time leader after Kohli stepped down upon the conclusion of the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

As for the Test vice-captaincy, Rohit displaces an out-of-form Rahane, who has endured a prolonged rut in the longest format, averaging below 25 in his last 16 Tests. Despite that, the selection committee has persisted with him, having named him in the 18-member touring party for the South Africa tour, where India will play three Tests and as many ODIs from December 26 to January 23.

Meanwhile, Rohit will have his first major assignment as the team’s skipper next year, at the T20 World Cup in Australia, followed by the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023. However, captaincy does not come as something new for Rohit – the most successful IPL captain with five titles with the Mumbai Indians. He has also led the national team on various occasions as a stand-in for Kohli, including the Asia Cup 2018, which the team won.

For Kohli, though, the development means his tenure at the helm ends without an ICC trophy in limited-overs events. He will, however, continue as the team’s captain in the longest format. India came agonisingly close to lifting the inaugural World Test Championship title but lost in the summit clash to New Zealand earlier this year.

Following that, the team took a premature exit from the T20 World Cup, failing to qualify for the semi-finals in what was the only instance of India not proceeding further than the group stage of an ICC event since 2012.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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