Former South African cricketer Lance Klusener believes that Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant has the potential to lead the Indian cricket team one day if he is properly groomed. Since Virat Kohli has already announced that he will step down as India's T20 captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup, the team will need to find a new skipper for T20Is.
Kohli's deputy Rohit Sharma may acquire full-time T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup. This also means that India will need to find a new vice-captain. If the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is seeking for a new T20I vice-captain, KL Rahul is another name that comes to the fore.
Klusener, on the other hand, believes Pant may be groomed as India's future captain by Rohit Sharma.
"I see a guy like Rishabh Pant being an Indian captain one day. He's still a bit young, possibly. We might see Rohit doing it for a while. I think just in terms of letting somebody else stand up and be head and shoulders pick to succeed Virat might mean Rohit doing it for a little while. Rohit can do it while somebody grows or somebody comes through and becomes a clear candidate to do that job," Klusener told TOI.
Captain Rishabh Pant
In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, Pant captained DC in the 2021 IPL season. Interestingly, even after Iyer's comeback, DC's management decided to continue with him as a captain in the second leg. Pant has done an adequate job so far, as DC finished first in the points table and advanced to the playoffs.
DC fell short in the first playoff against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), but because they finished in the top two, they will have another chance in the second qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) tonight. Whichever side wins tonight will play CSK in the final of IPL 2021 on October 15.
