'He Needs to be Free': Simon Doull Suggests Rohit Sharma to Follow Virat Kohli and Give up Mumbai Indians' Captaincy

Former New Zealand international Simon Doull feels that Rohit Sharma should think about relinquishing the Mumbai Indians captaincy, and follow a similar example to Virat Kohli.

The cricketer-turned-commentator felt that Kohli did the right thing by stepping down as RCB’s captain, and suggested Rohit to follow a similar route which would reduce the pressure on the ‘Hitman’ shoulders.

Apart from leading Mumbai Indians, Rohit is also India’s all-format captain and the 36-year-old has endured a tough season so far in IPL 2023 having scored just 257 runs in 13 innings.

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Doull feels that giving up Mumbai Indians’ captaincy would ‘free up’ Rohit, similar to how Kohli has excelled ever since relinquishing RCB’s captaincy.

“I was a big proponent of him [Virat Kohli] giving up the captaincy of RCB, much like I am with Rohit, now that he is the captain of India. I just think this is the tournament where he needs to be free and just play,” Doull said on Cricbuzz.

While the five-time IPL champs are well within contention for playoffs the skipper has blown hot and cold, whereas Kohli on the other hand had a tumultous season last year under Du Plessis’ captaincy but has shone brightly in IPL 2023 and even smashed a century against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.

Simon Doull further elaborated how RCB would have planned the succession of captaincy after Kohli, and they ended up getting Faf for a decent price in the IPL 2022 auction for INR 7 crore.

“When I talked about Virat and the captaincy, it was like every pressure was on him. Indian captaincy, three formats, RCB captaincy, and just to see that taken away, and it was never going to go to someone who he wasn’t going to respect. So there are only two or three players in world cricket that could have gone to Bangalore and been captain,” said the veteran.

Doull further added, “They ended up buying Faf for good money. The case was already there, and it had to have his stamp of approval before they event went for him. So, he gives up the captaincy, he gives the stamp of approval, and they got Faf.”

Both Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore are embroiled in a dogged race to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs and both sides need to win their remaining last games to confirm their progress into the knockouts.