Chetan Sharma has reiterated that three young players will be groomed for captaincy in the future, although Rohit Sharma is the permanent Test captain now.
While announcing India’s squad for the forthcoming T20I and Test series against Sri Lanka, Chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma also made Rohit Sharma’s appointment as the permanent Test captain official. At the same time, he also mentioned that although Rohit Sharma was a clear choice, the likes of KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant will be groomed as future captains under him.
Chetan Sharma Wants To Grrom A Captain Under Rohit Sharma
All three players have already experienced the leadership role in some capacity. KL Rahul led the side in one Test and the ODI series during the South Africa tour. Jasprit Bumrah was made vice-captain when KL Rahul was promoted to the captaincy role in Rohit Sharma’s absence. More recently, Rishabh Pant was made vice-captain for the ongoing T20I series against West Indies.
Chetan Sharma, while addressing a virtual press conference, said: “…and if such a big cricketer comes forward, if such an experienced player becomes a captain, then automatically, the things that we as a selection committee want, grooming captain under Rohit, will be tremendous thing for us,” Sharma outlined his committee’s vision.
Rohit Sharma was named skipper for Sri Lanka Tests which means that he would now be leading the Indian team across all formats. Meanwhile, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been named his deputy. The senior players including the likes of batsmen Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, pacer Ishant Sharma, and keeper Wriddhiman Saha have been dropped.
Chetan Sharma Took 3 Names Of KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah And Rishabh Pant To Be Grommed Under Rohit Sharma
He did take three names who have either led or been deputy in the past few months, saying the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul will be groomed by Rohit Sharma.
“We made KL the captain in South Africa. Bumrah was the deputy in South Africa and again for Sri Lanka series. In West Indies T20s, we had Rishabh as vice-captain. These are potential leaders to be groomed under Rohit. Yes, it is difficult to say who will be next captain but we are sure a name will emerge,” the former fast bowler said.
India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in the T20I and two Tests. The tour begins in Lucknow on February 24. Coming back to the India-Sri Lanka Test series, the series opener will be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali whereas the second and final game would be contested at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 12. The second Test match is all set to be a pink-ball affair that would be played under lights.
India Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Rvichandran Ashwin (subject to fitness), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar