Irfan Pathan is opposed to the Indian cricket team having distinct leaders for each format.
The Indian teams for the forthcoming multi-format trip of South Africa were recently chosen by the selectors. While Rohit Sharma will captain the Test team, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav will head the ODI and T20I teams.
Pathan was questioned about his opinions on India having a distinct captain for each format during a conversation on the Star Sports show Game Plan, to which he responded:
“This could be a sign for the future, which I am not a big fan of. There has been talk for a long time about whether we can do split captaincy. It’s true workload management has been done here and that is why you are seeing such big squads and different captains.”
Irfan Pathan
The former India all-rounder added:
“It’s clear that Rohit Sharma had to take a break from white-ball cricket, so you are not seeing him there. You are seeing him as the captain for Test cricket. However, you might see these things going forward. You might even see different coaches for different formats. I believe it’s better if it doesn’t happen in our culture.”
Irfan Pathan
Pathan shared that Indian culture is unlike Australian or South African cultures, where certain events occur regularly. He stated that the Indian train maintains its course even with just one engine, and all the carriages following along.
“If we see white-ball and red-ball cricket, we only have two or three players who are different” – Irfan Pathan
Mentioning Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane as the odd ones out, Irfan Pathan noted that India lacks players who excel in particular game formats. He gave more details:
“If we see white-ball and red-ball cricket, we only have two or three players who are different, where you can consider players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. However, if you see other than that, we generally have all-format players.”
Irfan Pathan
The former cricketer-turned-commentator noted that having the same captain and coach will benefit India because new-generation players such as Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill play all three forms. He stated:
“If we talk about our youngsters, you will see Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill playing everywhere. So most of our players are like that, who play all formats. That’s why if you have 70 to 80% players who play all formats, it’s better if the coach and captain are also same.”
Irfan Pathan
Rahul Dravid has been re-appointed as India’s head coach in all forms. While Rohit Sharma has been selected Test captain for the South Africa trip, it remains unclear if he will also lead the Men in Blue in the two white-ball forms.