Split captaincy is the prime topic of debate with regards to Indian Cricket at the moment. After Rohit Sharma was appointed as the ODI captain, India now has split-captaincy in the red-ball and the white-ball formats. However, this concept is not new to Team India. In this article, we look back at the previous occasion when Team India had split captaincy in the game of cricket.
The last time when Team India had split captaincy
We do not have to go long back to see when India had the split captaincy previously. After MS Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014, Virat Kohli took over the reins from him. However, MSD was still India’s white-ball skipper. Until 2017, Dhoni was at the helm and he then resigned from ODI and T20I captaincy to help Virat and co. prepare a team for the 2019 World Cup. Hence, for almost three years, Team India had split captaincy.
Before this tenure, even Anil Kumble and MS Dhoni were part of the split captain concept for India. After Rahul Dravid quit captaincy, MSD was not given the Test captaincy immediately. Instead, it was Anil Kumble who took over the mantle. At that time, MS Dhoni became the captain in the other formats. Until Kumble retired, India had split captains in the red-ball and the white-ball formats.
Good or bad for the team?
Almost every team at the moment employs split-captaincy. Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies are examples of the same. A few teams have been successful with this tactic. Hence, it could work well for the team. However, in India’s case, it is a little different. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both play all three formats of the game, unlike other teams where there are format-based specialists. That said, even India has done reasonably well with this idea during the Kohli-Dhoni stint.
