Danish Kaneria is most inclined towards Sanju Samson as his pick as skipper for the Sri Lanka limited-overs tour. However, given Sanju Samson’s failed attempts to cement a permanent place in the Indian team, the board may look beyond the wicketkeeper-batsman, but Danish Kaneria has put his faith behind the keeper believing he should be given more opportunities, which may clear the path for him in the time to come. Having said that, the former spinner feels the captaincy duties are likely to be assigned to Shikhar Dhawan.
Danish Kaneria Prefers Sanju Samson As Skipper For Sri Lanka Tour But Feels Shikhar Dhawan Too Is A Strong Contender
With the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, and others in England for the Test series, the squad that will travel to Sri Lanka will be filled with fringe players and promising youngsters, which adds to the debate of captaincy. The BCCI is yet to announce India’s squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, but already the big question doing the rounds is who is the likely candidate to lead the team in the absence of major players.
Shikhar Dhawan, based on his experience is being talked about as the man to lead India in Sri Lanka, but former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria feels the command of the team should be given to someone who can be groomed as a future captain for India.
“The Sri Lanka tour is a great opportunity for India to possibly find its next captain and groom him. The choices aren’t a lot. In fact, there are only two options. One is Sanju Samson, who has captained Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and looked good behind the stumps as well. The second option is the most senior player, Shikhar Dhawan. He is a senior player in ODIs and T20Is,” Danish Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.
“However, is he a long-term option to lead India in the future? Or Samson has the time and opportunity to improve himself going ahead? Or will Hardik Pandya be captaincy material? All these are tough questions. But as far as I am concerned, I will go with a player who, in the future, can lead India,” said Danish Kaneria.
Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals in the now-suspended IPL 2021. The Kerala batsman took over the reins from Australian Steve Smith, who was purchased by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2021 Auction. Sanju Samson was growing into the role well in the tournament before it was deferred due to the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
Sanju Samson topped the run-scorers chart for the franchise, as he smashed a century and amassed 277 runs in 7 matches. Rajasthan Royals, under Sanju Samson’s captaincy debut, won three of their first seven matches and stood fifth in the points table.
Danish Kaneria: Shikhar Dhawan Likely To Get India’s Captaincy In Sri Lanka
In the absence of many key players, Shikhar Dhawan may lead the Indian team in 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is against Sri Lanka. Although there has been no announcement regarding the same, it is expected that the players who performed well in the IPL could get a chance in the team.
“Shikhar Dhawan is likely to get India’s captaincy in Sri Lanka. Not Shaw, Samson… but Dhawan. But if it were up to me, I would have to go with Samson. We should be ready, that in the future, if Virat is willing to step down as captain, then he should be the next in line. We have to be ready that if Kohli isn’t around, we need to groom someone. So I would go with Samson but Dhawan remains a strong contender,” the former leg-spinner added.
Shikhar Dhawan, the probable captain had a good IPL 2021 with Delhi Capitals. He was the highest scorer of the tournament with 380 runs at an average of 54.28. He would be accompanied by fellow teammate Delhi Capitals opener Prithvi Shaw at the top of the order. Devdutt Padikkal is likely to be one of the three openers India will travel with besides the duo of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan.
In 2019, Shikhar Dhawan scored over 520 runs and then followed it up with 618 runs in IPL 2020, where he also became the first batsman in the tournament’s history to score two successive hundreds