Is Rohit Sharma’s Test captaincy under threat following WTC loss?

Following Indiarsquos 209run loss in World Test Championship WTC final Rohit Sharmarsquos captaincy has been a major talking point The question being raised is whether Rohit Sharma will continue to be the Indian Test captain for the next Test cycle considering his current form and the teamrsquos recent performanceThere is no imminent threat to Rohit Sharmas Test captaincy but he will need to rake up some significant numbers in the upcoming Test series against West Indies to eliminate doubts about his leadership in the traditional formatRohit will lead India in the twoTest series in the West Indies following which his future in the traditional format will be decidedIt is believed that unless Rohit himself decides to stay away from twoTest series against West Indies starting in Dominica from July 12 he will be leading the teamHowever the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI and the national selection committee will be under pressure to take a tough call if he fails to deliver at least one big knock either at Dominica or at Port of Spain during the second TestThese are baseless stuff that Rohit will be removed from captaincy Yes whether he will last the whole twoyear WTC cycle is a big question as he would be nearly 38 when the third edition ends in 2025 a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymityAs of now I believe that Shiv Sunder Das and his colleagues will have to take a call after the two Tests and looking at his batting formThe BCCI works differently from other sporting organizations believing that decisions should not be taken during the period of intense criticismAfter West Indies we have no Tests till Decemberend when the team travels to South Africa So there is enough time for selectors to deliberate and take a decision By then the fifth selector new chairman will also join the panel and a decision can be taken he addedThose who are aware about developments in Indian cricket know that once Virat Kohli quit Test captaincy after series defeat in South Africa Rohit wasnt very keen to become the leader in longest format initially as he wasnrsquot sure whether his body would hold or notThe 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 saidBarring a classy 120 against Australia on a challenging Nagpur track Rohit hasnt been consistent in delivering the kind of performance that is expected from a player of his calibreSince Rohit took over Test captaincy in 2022 India played 10 Tests and he missed three due to different reasons He scored 390 runs in 7 Tests and had an average of 3545 in 11 completed innings with a single hundred and no other score above 50In that same phase Virat Kohli played all 10 Tests scoring 517 runs in 17 innings with 186 against Australia at Ahmedabad being his bestCheteshwar Pujara in the same phase played eight Tests and scored 482 runs in 14 innings with two unbeaten knocks at an average of 4012 But one needs to factor scores of 90 and 102 came against a weak Bangladesh attackThe selectors know that in the next three years all three big players on the wrong side of 35 cant constitute the toporder of India and hence tough calls will need to be made considering the futureWith PTI inputsAlso Read Can Indias Big Three redeem themselves after seismic defeat during WTC final