Too early to judge Rohit Sharma as captain, give him time: Mohammad Kaif | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma became India’s full-time captain in February this year after Virat Kohli stepped down from the position of Test captain, following India’s series loss to South Africa in January. Rohit had taken over as white ball captain in December last year.
Rohit had of course already proved his white-ball captaincy credentials in the IPL, captaining Mumbai Indians to a record five titles. Rohit was expected to carry on this trophy-winning spree in India colours too. Some expected almost immediate results and for him to end India’s long wait to win an ICC trophy. India won their last ICC trophy way back in 2013 when MS Dhoni led the team to the ICC Champions Trophy title, beating England by 5 runs at Edgbaston in the final.
Rohit led India for the first time in an ICC event at the T20 World Cup in Australia and took the team to the semi-finals. But they couldn’t go any further, suffering an embarrassing 10 wicket loss to loss against England, who eventually went on to win the title. By the high standards that the Indian team and administrators set for themselves, this was not a successful run.

(Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, India had a disappointing Asia Cup outing as well. They won just 1 match in the Super 4s (vs Afghanistan) and suffered two defeats (vs Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and were shown the door.
Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif feels it is too early to judge Rohit and his captaincy. Kaif also said Rohit, who has over 16000 international runs, should be given a long rope in terms of captaincy.
“Rohit is a good captain. It’s still very early days for us to judge him as a captain. We have to wait and watch him in the upcoming tournaments. Pressure is definitely on him because when he became captain, he was expected to win an ICC trophy, which he has failed to do,” Kaif said in response to a question asked by TimesofIndia.com during a media interaction.
Rohit Sharma’s performance as captain

With the next edition of the ICC World Cup (50 over) to be hosted by India next year, all eyes will once again be on Rohit and the brand of captaincy he brings to the table. The last time the ODI World Cup was played in India, the men in blue emerged as champions (2011).
“Rohit has done a wonderful job as captain, apart from the multi-nation tournaments. He failed in the Asia Cup and World Cups. People aren’t happy with him. That’s because Virat (as India captain) was also along the same lines. Virat won all the bilateral series, and home Test matches but couldn’t take India over the line in the ICC events. We haven’t won an ICC trophy yet under these two captains. People are not happy with Rohit because hasn’t done well as captain in multi-nation tournaments,” Kaif, who played 13 Tests and 125 ODIs for India, further said.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The criticism that Rohit had to face was particularly sharp in the aftermath of the T20 World Cup, because of his own form with the bat in the tournament. He could manage just 116 runs in 6 matches, averaging 19.33.
Overall, Rohit has led India in 71 matches so far (including ODIs, Tests, and T20Is) from 2017 onwards and has scored 2409 runs at an average of 38.23, including 4 centuries and 15 fifties, as skipper
“He (Rohit) is a talented batter as well as a captain. Overall, his record is great. In the World Cup, apart from the England game, India did well against all teams under his captaincy. There will always be ups and downs. South Africa lost to the Netherlands, England lost to Ireland. India played superbly in the World Cup. Rohit should be given time,” Kaif signed off.