Rohit Surpasses Kohli To Script Huge Captaincy Record As India Claim T20I Crown For First Time In 6 Years With Win Vs WI
With their yet another dominating win, a 17 runs in the 3rd game in Kolkata on Sunday, India scripted a second consecutive T20I series clean sweep, this time against West Indies at home.
The win not only helped India’s claim the T20I crown for the first time in six years, it also helped Rohit Sharma script a massive India captaincy record.
With the win, India now have a rating of 269, hence surpassing England to become the No.1 ranked T20I side on the ICC chart. The last time India held the ranking was under the leadership of MS Dhoni in early 2016.
India have bounced back strongly in the format after a forgettable 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE last November when they had suffered a group-stage exit, following which Virat Kohli had stepped down from captaincy. Under new captain Rohit, India beat New Zealand 3-0 at home last year and then against West Indies hence making it the first time that the Men in Blue have scripted consecutive whitewash victories in bilateral T20I series.
This was also India’s sixth whitewash win in a bilateral T20I tie, four of which came under the leadership of Rohit. He had earlier led the Indian team to series win against Sri Lanka (3-0) in 2017/18, West Indies (3-0) in 2018/19, and New Zealand.
Rohit hence became the he first Indian captain, and fifth overall in world cricket, to win consecutive bilateral T20I series (minimum 3 matches). He can also become the third captain to register four whitewash wins in bilateral T20I series (minimum 3 matches), joining the likes of former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan (4) and ex-Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (5).
Rohit also surpassed Kohli to take the second spot in the list of most wins for a captain in T20Is at home. It was Rohit’s 14th win in 15 games on home soil. Eoin Morgan and Kane Williamson hold the top spot with 15 wins each.
The veteran cricketer also equalled former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s record of nine consecutive T20I wins as a skipper, hence standing second on the elusive list (full-member nations) after Asghar Afghan’s 12 such wins.