“You have to give him [Shikhar Dhawan] importance”- Saba Karim unhappy with the change in captaincy for India's tour of Zimbabwe

Shikhar Dhawan’s demotion to vice-captaincy for the upcoming ODI series against Zimbabwe has not gone down well with former India cricketer Saba Karim. He feels that a senior player should be treated with the utmost respect.

Karim, a former member of the selection committee as well, added that making KL Rahul captain or vice-captain wasn't important because the latter is coming back to international cricket after a long break.

Speaking to India News Sports, he said:

“KL Rahul should have played the series only as a member, making him captain or vice-captain is not that important. He is coming after a long break. Shikhar Dhawan is a senior member of the squad who has delivered in white-ball cricket. You have to give him importance once you make the announcement as captain.”

Karim further added that Dhawan led by example as the leader against the West Indies in the ODI series. He helped the Men in Blue clean sweep West Indies 3-0 and looked in complete control during his leadership.

Even with the bat, Dhawan had a good outing. He scored two fifties in the three ODIs, getting scores of 97, 13, and 58.

Karim praised Dhawan's captaincy by adding:

“I would like to add that Shikhar led the side very well against West Indies in the ODI series. He was also decent with the bat. India whitewashed the series with a bunch of youngsters.

"A lot of them performed very well under his captaincy. Dhawan looked in complete control, whether it was the field setup, tactics, or strategy. He inspired the youngsters as a leader.”

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“Captaincy trend is strange and questionable”- Saba Karim after KL Rahul replaces Shikhar Dhawan

The former Indian selector is not convinced by the idea of having too many captains and former captains within the team set-up. He feels that such decisions should be made very cautiously as it can affect the morale of the player.

So far in 2022, Team India have used seven captains in men’s internationals after Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain, equalling the record for a year - Sri Lanka also had seven in 2017.

“The kind of change in captaincy trend is strange and questionable. Such decisions need to be taken very cautiously. There is no need to rush as it is associated with a team environment, you need to build the team spirit. A captain begins to think about his plans for upcoming matches and then you suddenly make a change. It affects the morale of the cricketer.”