Who after Virat Kohli? That is the big question facing Indian cricket team management after Kohli announced he was quitting as the Test captain earlier this month. While there are a few strong candidates, none of them inspires much confident thanks to issues plaguing them individually.
Rohit Sharma is the leading contender since he has already replaced Kohli as the captain in the white-ball format and has already proven his credentials. However, his fitness is a big problem which recently kept him out of the South Africa tour.
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The other choice is KL Rahul was named as the Test vice-captain after Rohit was ruled out of the series. He even got a chance to captain the team in Test cricket when Kohli skipped the second contest due to back spasm.
And when Rohit didn’t get fit for the South Africa ODIs either, Rahul was handed over the captaincy. But the order batters has tasted defeat in all four of his matches as India captain with doubts being raised over his tactics.
The name of young Rishabh Pant has also been floated around as a potential candidate but he’s far too inexperienced to lead the team right now.
Australia batting superstar Steve Smith though has Rohit and Rahul as his two favourites to succeed Kohli though.
“Firstly, congratulations to Virat, who has led the Indian team superbly over the last 6-7 years. He has done a terrific job and looking forward, I would say Rohit and KL are the two favourites,” Smith said during an interaction session with fans via his Instagram account.
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In a stunning announcement after India’s 1-2 series defeat to South Africa, Kohli had said that the time has come for him to move on.
“It has been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I’ve done the job with absolute honest and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now,” Kohli said in a statement.
“There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 percent in everything I do, and if I can’t do that, I know it’s night the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team,” he added.
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