Fact Check: Is BCCI Sacking Rohit Sharma As Test Captain After WTC 2023 Final Loss?

Indian Test captain Rohit Sharma is facing the heat from the critics and fans after the national team failed to win another ICC final. Australia beat India to clinch their maiden ICC World Test Championship 2023 final, a couple of days back. Since 2013, India have failed to win a single ICC tournament. In 2013, under the leadership of MS Dhoni, India had won the ICC Champions Trophy in England. But since then, there has been a drought of trophies. This is despite the fact that India have made it to several finals - ICC Champions Trophy 2017, WTC 2021 Final, WTC 2023 Final respectively.

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After the loss in WTC 2023 Final, reports of Rohit Sharma getting sacked or quitting Test captaincy are doing the rounds of social media. There are rumours that Rohit himself did not want to take the role of captaincy after Virat Kohli had decided to step down, almost two years ago. However, these remain just rumours with no official from BCCI backing up this statement on record.

Rohit Sharma likely to be sacked as Test Captain after West Indies tour. Gill, Rahul and Pant in the race to lead India for the next WTC Cycle. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/L088iYIZaZ— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) June 13, 2023

Rohit Sharma likely to be sacked as Test Captain after West Indies tour. Rahul in the race to lead India for the next WTC Cycle. pic.twitter.com/eS3roCWpzQ— KLBiswa (@KLBiswa) June 13, 2023

So, Will Rohit Sharma discontinue as captain?

Rohit Sharma has not been either sacked or shown his willingness to quit as Test captain of Team India so far after the loss in the WTC 2023 final. The fact is that India play only 2 Tests till December this year, in West Indies. Hence, selectors will not be looking to make such big calls so soon. However, as per a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, selectors will be watching how Rohit performs with the bat in the overseas Tests in West Indies. As per this report, Rohit Sharma will lead India in the two-match series in Caribbean. Selectors will appoint a new captain for that series only if Rohit decides to sit out. 

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"These are baseless stuff that Rohit will be removed from captaincy. Yes, whether he will last the whole two-year WTC cycle is a big question as he would be nearly 38 when the third edition ends in 2025," a senior BCCI source in know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The BCCI sources also said that Rohit was not willing to take up the role of captaincy in Test matches but it was only after insistence of the then BCCI president Sourav Ganguly that he took up the role. Rohit was not interested in Test captaincy as he did not know how his body will hold captaining across formats. 

"The two top men at that time (former president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah) had to convince him to take up the role once KL Rahul failed to impress as a captain in South Africa," the source said.

Rohit's poor return with the bat

The reason selectors might be looking to see how Rohit performs vs West Indies is because he has not fared well in whites since taking over captaincy. Rohit took over Test captaincy in 2022. India have played 10 Tests since then and he has missed three of these - one in England due to Covid-19 and two in Bangladesh due to split webbing. In 7 Tests, Rohit scored just 390 runs at an average of 35.70 with one hundred and no fifties.