'Rohit will be slightly more laidback than Kohli' - Ajit Agarkar highlights Rohit's biggest challenge as India captain

Ajit Agarkar has said that the captaincy style of Rohit Sharma will be different from Virat Kohli, adding that Rohit will be slightly laidback than Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma, who missed out on the ODI series against South Africa due to a hamstring injury, will lead India against West Indies. This will be the first time that he will be leading the team as the full-time white-ball captain. Agarkar further pointed out that Rohit has enough experience behind him thus will do a good job as India captain.

On a Start Spots show 'Game Plan,' Agarkar said, "Whatever we have seen of him, he will definitely be slightly laidback than Virat Kohli. But we have seen his leadership qualities, not just in franchise cricket. He has reached a stage of his career where he is extremely experienced, played a lot of matches in international cricket, so he has the experience of that."

"Generally, there is a feel for the game required for a captain, it seems he has that. The responsibility will be different now because when you are a stand-in captain, you are there for a series or few matches but here you have to prepare a team for the next World Cup - whether it is T20 or 50-over," the former Indian cricketer added.

The 44-year old said that Rohit's biggest challenge will be his fitness. Rohit has faced fitness issues throughout his career. The same forced Rohit to miss out on the South Africa tour as well. Agarkar cited the example of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli stating that they were extremely fit and hardly missed a match due to fitness-related issues.

 "I believe his biggest challenge will be to remain fit. We have seen of late that he has got a few injuries. The captains who were there before him - Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni - their strength was that both were extremely fit and they missed matches very few times in their careers."