Rohit Sharma is slated to lead India in the upcoming T20 International series against New Zealand, while Virat Kohli‘s future as ODI captain is in jeapordy, PTI reported quoting BCCI officials. The BCCI leadership and national selectors are scheduled to meet in a few days, when they will review the outgoing T20I skipper’s ODI captaincy.  

According to PTI, failure to win the ongoing T20 World Cup will put Kohli’s captaincy under increased scrutiny. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah will discuss his leadership with national selectors in a virtual meeting in the coming days.

“First things first, the squads for New Zealand series need to be decided. Rohit hasn’t yet said that he doesn’t want to lead in the T20 Internationals against New Zealand. And why would he not want to lead? It’s his first series as full-time T20 captain,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

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India will take on New Zealand in three T20Is, starting November 17 to be played in Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata. Two Test matches are also scheduled in the tour, which will be hosted in Kanpur (November 25-29) and Mumbai (December 3-7). 

However, some senior players like Rohit might take a break from the Test series, PTI reported. This might be part of a rotation policy to rest players before the South Africa tour at the end of December. 

On Kohli’s captaincy, while the BCCI is in no hurry to announce a new ODI captain, the board will not want two white-ball skippers given a packed T20I schedule – including 17 games in India till June – awaits. 

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According to PTI, it remains to be seen if Kohli will voluntarily step down as captain before the South Africa series or wait for an indication from the BCCI. 

Meanwhile, out-of-form players like Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are likely to be dropped for the New Zealand series. 

They are likely to be replaced with some top performers in the Indian Premier League, like Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad and Avesh Khan. Kolkata Knight Riders’ Venkatesh Iyer might also get a call-up. 

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Someone like Jammu and Kashmir pace sensation Umran Malik could be a surprise selection as the next big event will be on the bouncy Australian decks.

The likes of Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar may all be back for the T20 series while Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Umesh Yadav are set to come back for the red ball format.