Rohit Sharma has been on top of his game in Test cricket, says Ricky Ponting

Rohit Sharma has been on top of his game in Test cricket, says Ricky Ponting

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Rohit Sharma has scored 3047 Test runs from 43 matches

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| Courtesy - Twitter

Ricky Ponting has stated that Rohit Sharma can lead India in the red-ball format as the opening batsman has been on top of his game in Test cricket in the last couple of years. Ponting further spoke about the time when he was with the Mumbai Indians, and Rohit's brilliant record as a leader.

Virat Kohli relinquished the Test captaincy earlier this month, a day after India suffered a resounding 1-2 defeat against South Africa in the three-match Test series. With the harrowing defeat against the Proteas, India also lost a golden chance of winning their first-ever Test series victory in the rainbow nation. 

However, Kohli stepped down as India's most successful Test captain, as the national side won 40 out 68 matches under the leadership of the 33-year-old. Earlier, after Kohli stood down as India T20I captain, the BCCI had appointed Rohit Sharma as the national side's skipper in the shortest format of the game. Later, the selectors sacked Kohli from the ODI leadership, and appointed the Indian opener as full-time white-ball skipper of the Men in Blue. 

The BCCI is yet to announce the new Test captain, and Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are the frontrunners to succeed Kohli as the national side's skipper in the longest format of the game. The selectors are expected to appoint the new red-ball captain ahead of the Sri Lanka Test series in February.

Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting has backed Rohit to succeed Kohli as India Test captain as the opening batsman has been on top of his game in red-ball cricket in the last couple of years.

"If I go back to what I said at the start about being on top of your game when you take over a captaincy role, then it is pretty hard to argue after what he has done with his Test cricket in the last 2-3 years. He has played as well as anybody in the world through that period of time, and we know how good he is as a white-ball player," the ICC website quoted Ponting as saying

"They (BCCI) will have a decision to make what they want to do with their (captains') roles as well, whether they split roles or they want to keep the same captain for all formats," he added.

Ponting further spoke about the time when he was with the Mumbai Indians. After a few disappointing years with Kolkata Knight Riders, Ponting moved to the Mumbai-based franchise, and the former Australian batsman failed to perform with the bat, which forced him to stay as the mentor of the team. Rohit Sharma was appointed the captain of the side, and the Mumbai Indians won their first IPL trophy. The Australian also coached the Rohit Sharma-led side to their second title in 2015.

Ponting reckoned that Rohit has been a very successful leader for the Mumbai-based franchise, and he can be a good captain for the national side too.

"I was at Mumbai Indians when Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy there. I was bought in the auction to be their captain and unfortunately I wasn't playing well enough after the first few games to keep myself in the team. So I had to make room for another international player to come into the side," said Ponting.

"The owners and the team management wanted to know who I thought would be the appropriate person to take over the leadership at Mumbai Indians. There were a few names thrown around between owners and the other coaches, but it was really clear to me that there was only one guy that can lead the team - he was a young guy and his name happened to be Rohit Sharma," he added.

"I think the proof is in the pudding with what he has done at the Mumbai Indians since that moment on. He has been a very successful leader there and has been when he has led India on a few occasions as well," said Ponting.

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