"If They Allowed Virat Kohli To Continue As Captain...": Ex-Pak Skipper's Bold World Cup Statement

India skipper Rohit Sharma could be under a lot of focus these days. How well he marshals the Indian cricket team in the upcoming Asia Cup, which starts on August 30, and more importantly at the World Cup 2023 might well decide the course of the side. So far, Rohit has not had any big success at the global level since he took over Indian captaincy in all three formats in the last couple of years. Under Kohli too, the Indian cricket team failed to win any ICC trophy. However, former Pakistan cricket team captain Rashid Latif believes that had Kohli been the skipper going into the 2023 World Cup, India would have been much more ready.

From battling injuries to top stars to not being able to zero in on the ideal combination, hosts India do not look like a well-oiled machine with less than two months to go for the World Cup.

Latif, who played in the 1996 and 2003 World Cups, also noted that India was struggling in selection and lost the recent T20 series in West Indies because of not allowing new players to settle down properly. "Indian team management has experimented with several players and if I talk about their batting the middle and lower order say from 4 to 7 they just have not allowed any new player to settle down with frequent changes," Latif said on Cricket Baaz YouTube Channel.

Rashid said though risky, India would now have to just depend on seniors in the World Cup. "I say risky because KL and Iyer are returning from injuries."

Rashid had no doubt that handing the captaincy to many candidates in the last two years had not helped the Indian team. "If they had allowed Virat Kohli to continue as captain, India would be 100 percent ready for the World Cup by this time,” he said.

With PTI inputs