Respondents Vote Out Sharma and Kohli, Want Change in Captaincy: CVoter Survey

By: Team India Tracker

54% of the respondents attribute poor performance of the Indian Men’s Cricket Team to the money heavy IPL but 1/4th of the respondents were completely against the idea that IPL contributed to India’s declining performance.

CVoter conducted a snap poll on the recent controversy around test cricket in India. The survey asked respondents whether Captain Rohit Sharma should be dropped from the Indian Test team shows a significant divide in opinion across age groups. Overall, 31.5% of respondents support the idea of dropping him, while 42.7% are against it.

On the other hand, nearly half of the respondents are of the opinion that Virat Kohli should be dropped from the Indian Test team, with 49.0% of respondents selecting “Definitely no.” The opposition is particularly strong among the younger age groups, with 54.5% of the 18-24 age group and 51.6% of the 25-34 age group opposing his removal.

The older age group (55+ years) shows the highest support for dropping Sharma, with 40.1% responding “Definitely yes” and only 29.5% saying “Definitely no.” Younger respondents (18-24 years) are less in favor of dropping him, with 47.6% responding “Definitely no.”

Support for dropping Kohli also increases with age, as seen in the 55+ age group, where 35.7% responded “Definitely yes,” the highest among all age groups.

Overall, younger fans appear more supportive of Kohli’s retention, while older respondents are slightly more in favor of his removal, though opposition still dominates across all age groups.

The survey data on the perceived causes of India’s loss against New Zealand highlights "Poor batting" as the most blamed factor, with 28.6% of respondents saying so. This view is most prevalent among the 55+ age group, with 32.1% in agreement.

A significant share of respondents also feel that poor team selection led to India’s poor performance against New Zealand, showing relatively consistent response rates across age groups. Notably, younger respondents (18-24 years) also attribute the loss to “Poor selection of pitches” (13.8%) and “Differences of players with coach” (12.6%), though these reasons are less prominent overall.

Overall, there was a general consensus across age groups on batting issues as the primary concern in India’s cricket team’s performance at the test matches.

Cricket has always been close to Indian’s hearts be it internationally or locally evident in the staggering support IPL has received over the years. However, CVoter’s survey on India’s performance at the test matches against New Zealand shows that as high as 54% of the respondents attribute poor performance of the Indian Men’s Cricket Team to the money heavy IPL. However, 1/4^th of the respondents were completely against the idea that IPL contributed to India’s declining performance.

India’s poor performance at the recent tests matches against New Zealand appears to have put a question mark on the captaincy of the Indian Men’s Cricket Team. CVoter’s Snap Poll indicates that most Indians want to see a change in the captaincy of India’s test team with Indians favouring players like Risabh Pant, Shubham Gill and Ravindra Jadega amongst others over the incumbent captain Rohit Sharma. Clearly, Indian’s have never failed at being vocal about their dislike for a captain who they think hasn’t lived up to their expectations on the cricket field.