Former India wicket-keeper Saba Karim feels the BCCI was forced to change split captaincy plans after Virat Kohli’s sudden resignation from Test captainship in the South Africa series last month. The BCCI has named Rohit Sharma as India’s all-format captain ahead of the Sri Lanka series.

Virat Kohli resigned from various captaincy posts since the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The most recent one was from India’s Test side last month after they lost to South Africa in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship. 

While addressing this issue, former India wicket-keeper batter Saba Karim explained how Kohli forced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take certain actions after Kohli’s latest resignation.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel Khelneeti, Karim opined, “BCCI was forced to change split captaincy plans after Virat Kohli’s sudden resignation from Test captaincy. Kohli was not expected to leave the red-ball captaincy and because of his resignation, India had to make Rohit Sharma the skipper across formats.”

However, despite calling Rohit an “ ideal candidate”, Karim asserted that there were no other front-runners to replace Kohli.

“Sharma is an ideal candidate for the leadership role and we can groom youngsters under him. Giving vice-captaincy opportunities to the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah shows that the grooming process has begun.

“At times there are statements like there is a lot of pressure on an Indian captain and there should be split captaincy. But then, a new all-format captain is announced. I believe that the selectors have made Rohit Sharma the captain, as there were no other frontrunners for the post,” Karim concluded.

India and Sri Lanka will go up against each other in two Tests and three T20Is, beginning from February 24 in Lucknow. This will be Rohit’s first assignment as a captain in red-ball cricket.