Sourav Ganguly Backs "Phenomenal" Rohit Sharma's Appointment As Team India's Full-Time White-Ball Captain

Speaking to News18, Sourav Ganguly gave his support to new Indian white-ball captain Rohit Sharma and said that "he will find a way to do well".

Since their exit from this year's T20 World Cup, Team India have gone through plenty of changes, with Rahul Dravid taking over the head coach's role and Rohit Sharma assuming full-time white-ball captaincy duties. Virat Kohli's removal from white-ball captaincy has received polarising opinions from fans and experts. Many have pointed out that Kohli deserved to remain as ODI skipper at least till the 2023 ODI World Cup. But BCCI President Sourav Ganguly feels that Rohit deserved the full-time role and has also proved his pedigree as white-ball skipper in the past. Speaking exclusively to News18, Ganguly backed Rohit's record and mentioned that the batter had led India to an Asia Cup victory without the presence of Kohli in the squad.

He also stated that Rohit's record of winning five IPL titles with Mumbai Indians (MI) is enough to justify his role.

"Of course. That's why the selectors have backed him. He will find a way to do well and I hope he does. His record for IPL(Mumbai Indians) is phenomenal... winning five titles," he said.

"He captained India in Asia Cup a couple of years ago which India won as well, and India won without Kohli. To win a title without him spoke volumes of that team's strength. So he has had success in big tournaments. He has a good team. So hopefully they can all turn it around," he further added.

In September before the T20 World Cup, Kohli had announced to fans that he would be stepping down as T20I captain after the tournament but would remain as ODI skipper. The Men in Blue had a disastrous campaign, crashing out of the Super 12 stage and also losing to arch-rivals Pakistan.