"Split Captaincy Can't Work In Our Culture": Kapil Dev (2020) And What Happened Next

Published: November 23, 2020, 7:34 PM IST | Updated: October 25, 2026, 10:28 PM IST
Written by Akash Saha | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

News archive · November 2020

Kapil Dev: “A company can’t have two CEOs”

In November 2020, India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev said split captaincy would not work in Indian cricket, as calls grew for Rohit Sharma to take over the T20 side from Virat Kohli. Within a year India had split the job anyway, and different captains across formats is now the norm.

What Kapil Dev Said

Speaking at a virtual event on 20 November 2020, Kapil argued that India’s culture did not suit split captaincy, comparing it to a company with two CEOs. Because India fielded almost the same players in every format, he said, players answering to different leaders could cause confusion. He backed Kohli to continue leading in T20Is.

The debate followed Rohit Sharma leading Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title in 2020, in his eighth season as captain, while Kohli, India’s captain in all three formats since 2017, had yet to win the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kapil on Bowling and Test Cricket

Kapil, who was 61 and had recently recovered from a heart attack, also urged IPL fast bowlers to rely on swing rather than endless slower balls, praising Sandeep Sharma. He hailed India’s pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, and warned that T20 franchise cricket must not be allowed to weaken Test cricket.

What Happened Next: India’s Captaincy Since 2020

November 2021Kohli gave up the T20I captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup, and Rohit Sharma took over.

December 2021Rohit was also named ODI captain, creating a Test (Kohli) and white-ball (Rohit) split.

February 2022Kohli stepped down as Test captain, and Rohit became captain in all three formats.

June 2024Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup title, then retired from T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav became T20I captain.

2025Shubman Gill was named Test captain in May and ODI captain in October.

2025–2026Suryakumar led India to the 2025 Asia Cup title; Gill leads in Tests and ODIs.

So India did eventually adopt the split model Kapil warned against, and won ICC and Asia Cup titles with it. Track the current leaders in our MS Dhoni captaincy record and Asia Cup winners list.