Split captaincy won't work in India, says Karthik, hailing Rohit's appointment as skipper across formats

Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has vouched for one captain across all three formats for the Indian team, saying the concept of split captaincy won't work here. Karthik hailed Rohit Sharma's elevation as Indian team's captain across all formats on the eve of the Mumbai batter's Test captaincy debut against Sri Lanka in the game starting here on Friday.

"A cricketing country like India needs one captain," Karthik said on the ICC Review.

"It is very easy to deal with one captain for all three formats.


"I remember MS Dhoni saying that split captaincy doesn't work in India that well. We haven't had that over a period of time, so we wouldn't know. But at this point in time when I do see it, I think he (Rohit) is the man. Every time he touched something, it's turned to gold. All the series he has been a part of, he has won convincingly."

Karthik also praised Rohit for the way he has used Indian bowlers and his handling of young players.

India have recently completed 3-0 series sweeps in the T20Is against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

"He has shown a lot of tactical nous in the games that he has played. Moved the bowlers around really well, giving confidence to the batters and when they've won a series, giving opportunities to the young guys," Karthik said.

"Sometimes taking a backseat, batting in a position where obviously he has not batted there for a long time. So, he is doing a lot of things right."