Ever since Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain after the series defeat to South Africa, the question of who would succeed him as India’s leader in the longest format has been doing rounds. After KL Rahul lost his debut Test as captain, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has backed India’s white-ball captain Rohit Sharma to lead the men in blue in the red-ball format as well.
Speaking exclusively to Sports Tak, Shastri said, “If Rohit is fit, why can’t he be the captain in Tests too. He was appointed vice-captain for the South Africa series but he couldn’t go there because of injuries. So why not, if he was made the vice-captain, why can’t he be promoted to captaincy.”
Kohli stepped down as T20I skipper after the T20 World Cup. He was later sacked from ODI captaincy too. Following this, Sharma was made India's captain in limited overs. Former India all-rounder’s stint as India’s head coach ended with India’s embarrassing exit from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
Shastri also spoke about who should be India’s next vice-captain. He also said that it is down to Rahul Dravid to figure it out.
“Rohit’s vice-captain has to be seen. Rahul Dravid has to see who that person could be because that player has to be a certainty in the playing XI. I think, why name the vice-captain at all. Decide on the tour who is the most experienced player, who is playing well. You announce your vice-captain in advance, and later you realise that your vice-captain doesn’t fit in your XI.” Shastri said.
The 59-year-old spoke highly of India’s young wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant. He called the left-handed batter a "tremendous" player. He also said that Pant is a good reader of the game and quite selfless.
“Rishabh is a tremendous young player. As coach, I was very fond of him, his attitude and the good thing about him was that he would always listen to you. A lot of people say, he always does what he wants but that’s not true. He reads the game well and would always put my team first than self. So he should always be kept in mind for leadership.” Shastri added.
Under Shastri, India won two Test series in Australia. India are also leading 2-1 in England with the last Test being rescheduled for 2022 due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. Shastri was also credited for helping team India build a world-class pace attack that has contributed immensely in team India’s success in the last five-six years.
