Rohit Sharma should be relieved from T20I captaincy to manage his workload, says Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag reckons that skipper Rohit Sharma could be relieved from captaincy duties in the T20 format which would allow him to manage his workload better.

Rohit has not been able to feature in all of India’s matches since taking over as captain due to injuries and workload management.

“If the Indian team management has someone else in mind as captain in the T20 format, then I think, Rohit (Sharma) could be relieved and the following can be taken into consideration going forward,” Sehwag told PTI in an interview.

“One, that would allow Rohit to manage his workload and mental fatigue, given his age. “Two, once someone new is appointed as captain in T20s, it would also allow Rohit to take breaks and rejuvenate himself to lead India in both Tests and ODIs,” he said in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports, the official broadcaster of the India-England series.

However, Sehwag maintained that if the team management sticks with its current policy of having one captain to lead India across the three formats, then Sharma is still an ideal choice.

“If the Indian think-tank still wants to pursue with the same policy, which is, to let one man leading India in all the three formats, then I still believe, Rohit Sharma is the best man for it.”

Sehwag has raised a pertinent point about split captaincy in an era when choc a bloc international schedule puts more focus than ever on injury management and mental fatigue.

The concept of split captaincy was tried out for the first time way back in June 1997 when England appointed Adam Hollioake as the ODI skipper and Alec Stewart was the captain of the then Test side. Over the years, it has been used by other teams, including Australia, West Indies and South Africa.