Hard to have split captaincy in Indian cricket: Dinesh Karthik recalls MS Dhoni's stand on different captains

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New Delhi, Feb 2: Rohit Sharma returns as India's captain in the upcoming limited-overs series at home against West Indies and under his leadership, the team will be aiming to register its first win in 2022. But the BCCI has an even bigger task at hand i.e. appointing a new captain for the Test side.

There is a school of thought that believes India can do with the idea of split captaincy but there are also those who think it's a bad move.

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has recalled former India captain MS Dhoni's remarks over having different captains for white-ball and red-ball formats when the latter claimed 'it is hard' to have split captaincy in Indian cricket.

"I remember MS Dhoni saying very clearly that India as a cricketing nation is very hard to have split captaincy," Karthik told news agency ANI.

Rohit is the designated vice-captain in Tests and he looks like an obvious choice but many believe that KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant can be handed over the job as they look like a long term prospect.

Kohli stepped down after Team India's loss to South Africa in the three-match Test series by 2-1 despite going 1-nil up. Karthik said he is aware of the efforts that Kohli puts before each match.

"It is unfair for me to answer this question because only Virat knows why he took that decision to step down as captain and I am sure he has a good reason behind it. He has led India so well and he has taken the Test team to a very strong place. As a person who has been part of the team and has played under him, I know the amount of effort he puts in every time he goes out to the field," Karthik added.

Karthik, who last played for India in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, said he hopes Kohli looks back at his captaincy tenure as a very successful one.

"He gives it everything he has. It has been a great joy for me to have been part of that journey, he has been one of the top captains for India in Test cricket, I hope when he turns back, he looks at all the pleasant memories and the good memories and he has a good time thinking about the success he has had as the captain," added the 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batter.