Rohit Sharma not bothered about duration of captaincy stint

Rohit Sharma enjoys the leadership role but is not bothered if he will be handed the reins of the Indian team for the white-ball formats permanently or not.

In the absence of Virat Kohli, the opening batsman is set to lead India against Bangladesh in the Twenty20 series, beginning Sunday in New Delhi.

Kohli was given a break from the Twenty20 series as part of workload management.

There was a debate recently that perhaps it’s time that India embrace the idea of split captaincy and Rohit should be asked to lead the side in the limited overs formats.

The stylish Mumbaikar, though, refused to be drawn into the debate, saying he is happy to fill in whenever situation demands.

“These (captaincy) things are not in our hands. Whether you captain one or 100 matches, it is an honour,” Rohit said at a promotional event.

“When we were growing up, it was all about playing for the country. I have captained the team and the experience has been good and I don’t think about for how long I should be made captain. Whenever I get the chance to captain the team, I try and enjoy that,” he said.

Rohit gave a thumbs up to the idea of hosting a Pink ball Test match against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens next month.

“I am very excited as it is the first time. I can’t say about others, but I played one match in Duleep Trophy with pink ball and it was a good experience. The opportunity has come and will try to do well and win the game,” Rohit, who recently made an impression as Test opener, said.

“I always try to do well and for me, the thought is to not stop. My job is to keep performing and I see it that way. Be it Bangladesh or West Indies after that or when we go to New Zealand,” he said.

Rohit refused to speak on the debate over MS Dhoni’s future saying, “We don’t hear anything about these things. You guys make these things up.”

Asked about Shakib Al Hasan suspension, Rohit cut the scribe short by retorting, “I am not ICC”.