Right way to go: Ravi Shastri backs split captaincy

Mumbai: Former India coach Ravi Shastri has supported the recent splitting of national Test and limited-overs captaincy, saying it could well be a blessing for red-ball skipper Virat Kohli and his white-ball counterpart Rohit Sharma as they negotiate busy schedules confined in bio-bubbles.

Kohli was replaced as white-ball captain by star opener Rohit earlier this month. "I think it's the right way to go. This could be a blessing in disguise for Virat, and for Rohit, because I don't think in this era if the bubble life exists for another year or so, one guy can handle all, that is not easy at all," Shastri, himself a former India all-rounder, said on Star Sports show 'BOLD & BRAVE: THE SHASTRI WAY'.

Kohli, during his pre-departure press conference ahead of the tour of South Africa, said that he was never asked to stay on as T20 skipper when he made his intent clear on relinquishing the post. He also said that the communication of him being removed as ODI captain also came just 90 minutes before selection committee meeting.

Shastri, who has served Indian cricket in various capacities, said he wanted to establish Rohit as an opener. "It was very clear in my mind that I wanted to do it. I thought if I can't get the best out of him as a batsman then I am a failure as a coach because there is too much talent there," said Shastri.

Meanwhile, the 59-year-old, who has played 80 Tests, also spoke about his relationship with Kohli, who was also the ODI and T20 skipper when Shastri was the head coach for a considerable amount of time.

"We're both pretty aggressive, we want to play to win. We realized very quickly that to win you need to take 20 wickets, deciding to play aggressive and fearless cricket. "It meant at times you would lose games but once you got one across the line, then it's infectious," said Shastri.