SA vs IND 2023: Not a big fan of split captaincy – Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has revealed he is not a big fan of split captaincy while admitting that it could be the future of Indian cricket. Many International teams have successfully adopted the idea whereas India has also backed Hardik Pandya as T20I captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma.

Indian selectors have named three different captains for the upcoming tour of South Africa. KL Rahul will lead in ODIs, Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead in T20Is and Rohit Sharma will captain in Test matches against the Proteas.

It was earlier revealed that Rohit Sharma wanted to be rested for the limited-overs leg against the Proteas. Rohit recently led India to the final of the ODI World Cup but the team could not cross the final hurdle against Australia.

“This could be a sign for the future, which I am not a big fan of. There has been talk for a long time about whether we can do split captaincy. It’s true that workload management has been done here and that is why you are seeing such big squads and different captains. It’s clear that Rohit Sharma had to take a break from white-ball cricket, so you are not seeing him there,” Pathan said on Star Sports.

“You are seeing him as the captain for Test cricket. However, you might see these things going forward. You might even see different coaches for different formats. I believe it’s better if it doesn’t happen in our culture,” the former cricketer further added.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the BCCI is approaching Rohit Sharma to lead in T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit had last played in the shortest format of the game in the semifinal of the 2022 T20 World Cup.

With the Indian team always on the road, split captaincy looks inevitable across all three formats to manage the workload of crucial players.