Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has advised the Indian team management to hand over the white-ball captaincy duties to Rohit Sharma after he led his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians to a fifth title win on Tuesday.

Currently, Virat Kohli leads India across formats with Rohit vice-captain in limited-overs cricket.

Gambhir reckons that not appointing Rohit captain of ODI and T20I teams will be India’s loss.

“If Rohit Sharma doesn’t become India’s captain, it’s their loss, not Rohit’s,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo. “Yes, a captain is only as good as his team and I completely agree with that, but what are the parameters to judge a captain on who is good and who isn’t? The parameters and benchmark should be the same. Rohit has led his team to five IPL titles.”

Rohit continues to be the most successful captain in IPL history as he added yet another title win to his name. Overall, he has won the trophy six times – the first with now-defunct Deccan Chargers in 2009 and the rest with MI.

“We keep saying MS Dhoni is India’s most successful captain. Why? Because he has won two World Cups and three IPLs,” Gambhir said. “Rohit has won five IPL titles, he is the most successful captain in the history of the tournament. Going forward, it’ll be a shame if he doesn’t get India’s white-ball or just T20 captaincy. Because he can’t do much more than this. He can only help the team he captains to victories. So if he doesn’t become India’s regular white-ball captain, it will be their loss.”

Gambhir suggested that India can have split captaincy. Kohli can continue to lead the Test team while Rohit can be appointed captain of the limited-overs teams.

Gambhir, however, clarifies that replacing Kohli doesn’t mean he is poor as a captain but Rohit edges ahead of him in that parameter.

“They (India) can also consider split-captaincy,” he said. “No one is poor. Rohit has shown in white-ball cricket how big the difference is between his and Virat’s captaincy. One player had led his team to five titles, the other hasn’t won yet. I’m not saying this because Kohli is a poor captain. But he has received the same platform that Rohit has, so you have to judge both of them on the same parameters. Both have been captains in the IPL for the same length of time. I feel Rohit stands out as a leader.”