Rohit Sharma appointed India T20I captain, fans express delight over start of a new era

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New Delhi, Nov 10: The senior selection committee on Tuesday (November 9) appointed Rohit Sharma as Team India's new T20 captain replacing Virat Kohli. Rohit's appointment was a formality and KL Rahul will be his new deputy in the shortest format.

Kohli - the outgoing T20I captain - has been rested from the three-match series against New Zealand starting November 17 in Jaipur. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and spinner Ravindra Jadeja have also been given much-needed rest for the short series. However, Pandya, who didn't actually provide an honest picture of his fitness status has been dropped from the squad.

"I don't know who all spread this misinformation but when Rohit Sharma is available, there are no other options for white-ball captaincy at the moment. Yes, KL Rahul is around but he is only being considered as a deputy for time being," a senior BCCI official made it clear.

"Obviously, when Rohit takes a break he will lead but he is the white ball leader going forward," he said. While BCCI didn't say anything about ODI captaincy, it is understood that it wants one white ball captain going into the 2023 50-over World Cup and a decision for the three-match ODI series in South Africa will be taken at an appropriate time.

Outgoing India coach, Ravi Shastri backed Rohit as the new captain and claimed he is "ready and capable" of taking over the T20 captaincy from Kohli.

"I think in Rohit, you have got a very capable guy. He has won so many IPLs, he is the vice-captain of the team, he is ready in the wings to take that job," Shastri said during India's post-T20 World Cup campaign media conference.

Fans took to Twitter to express their delight over the start of the Rohit era and this is what they had to say: