Rohit Sharma's challenge as all-format India captain is managing players amid gruelling schedule: Sunil Gavaskar
India Today
Rohit Sharma, who took over from Virat Kohli as India's limited-overs captain, was appointed as the Test captain as well with the selection committee stressing the star opener is ready for the responsibility in all 3 formats.
Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar said Rohit Sharma's biggest challenge as an all-format captain will be to ensure the players are mentally and physically at their best at all times amid a busy schedule. Rohit, who took over as India's T20I and ODI captain after the T20 World Cup last year and was appointed as the Test captain as well last week.
Rohit has stressed the importance of finding the right balance between providing opportunities to players and doing well in major tournaments and Gavaskar believes it's the duty of the captain and the team management to ensure players are ready for the challenges amid a "gruelling schedule".
India, who rose to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings after the 3-0 sweep of a T20I series against the West Indies on Sunday, will take on Sri Lanka in a 3-Test series as early as Thursday. The T20I series will be followed by a 2-Test series from March 4 following which the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is set to get underway from the final week of March.
India also have the T20 World Cup later this year before which they play T20Is against South Africa, a Test match and 5 T20Is against England.
"I think the challenge is getting the players to play at their highest as far as their mental and physical conditioning is concerned because there is so much of cricket which not just the Indian team is playing but the international cricket," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
"There is going to be 2 months of IPL and then 5 T20Is against South Africa and then that one-off Test in England followed by T20i series there. It's a grueling schedule. So how to manage the players as far as their form and fitness are concerned. That's going to be the biggest challenge for Rohit and the team management," he added.
Rohit has begun well as India full-time captain with 3-0 wins over New Zealand in T20Is and West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is. He will be in charge of the Test team forth first time when India face Sri Lanka in a 2-match series in March.
