Batter of Kohli's quality always required in team, says ODI captain Rohit Sharma

New Delhi, Dec 9: India's new white ball captain Rohit Sharma has said that a batter of Virat Kohli's quality along with his experience of playing in difficult situations, is very much required in the team.

Rohit, who was already appointed as T20I captain last month, on Wednesday replaced Kohli as India's new ODI skipper. However, Kohli is still the Test captain for the series against South Africa with Rohit acting as his deputy.

"A batter of Kohli's quality is always needed in the squad. To have an average of 50 plus in the T20 format, it is crazy and unreal. Obviously, with the experience he has, he has batted and bailed India out so many times from difficult situations," Rohit said in a YouTube show 'Backstage with Boria'.

"The quality and his kind of batsmanship is required. Plus, he is still a leader of the team. All those things put together, you don't want to miss out. You don't want to ignore that kind of stuff. His presence is very important to the team," he added.

For Rohit, a captain is as good as his team. And, he feels it's also important to put an arm around teammates when required.

"A captain is there to ensure the right players are playing, the right combination is playing and obviously few tactical things that you need to look after,'' he said.

"Captain needs to stand at the forefront while performing and for everything else needs to stand at the back. The reason I say that is he can make a difference by standing at the back because then he can make sure he puts his hand around everyone, that's what I meant when I said you have to be the least important member of the team," he added.

The 34-year old star batter also feels that a captain's job is 20 per cent on the field and rest of the things are done off it.

"My role is more on the outside than inside. Give roles to players who are expected to go out there. It all happens off the field. Once you are on the field, you have only three hours to execute your plan. There is very little you can change in them and there are 11 guys playing and you have to look after all," the skipper said.

"On field, you can't change too much," he added.