BCCI's secretary, Jay Shah, announced on Wednesday that Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup, slated to be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.
With all-rounder Hardik Pandya still in the process of recovering from an ankle injury sustained last October, the board believes Rohit's captaincy should persist in this format.
"Rohit was captaining (in the past in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward," Shah told the media on the sidelines of the ceremony to rename the SCA Stadium after former board secretary Niranjan Shah.
"If Hardik was injured in the (2023 ODI) World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy?" asked Shah, indicating if the all-rounder gets injured during the course of the 2024 T20 World Cup, who will replace him as captain.
"In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way he (Rohit Sharma) took the team to 212/4, we can't question much about him, right?" he added.
"He (Rohit) has the ability, as I said, we won 10 games in the ODI World Cup. We didn't win the final, but it's part and parcel of the game. Whoever plays better, wins," Shah expressed.
During the renaming ceremony of the SCA Stadium, Shah reminisced, "In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024 (T20 World Cup) in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag)."
This declaration was made in the presence of esteemed personalities including former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal.
The event also witnessed the participation of current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Rahul Dravid, along with players Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and several members of the Indian team support staff.
