As Virat Kohli stepped down from India‘s Test captaincy, the search for his successor has started. The two likely candidates who will compete for the position will be Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. While Rohit Sharma is the frontrunner to take the job but KL Rahul’s name has also emerged out as the selectors might go with split captaincy to manage the workload of the duo.
One point which goes against Rohit Sharma is that he missed out on many series in the past two years so it will be interesting to see if the selectors gamble with him to lead India in all three formats.
India will play 2-match series against Sri Lanka in February-March
When the test squad was announced for the South Africa tour, Rohit Sharma was named the deputy of Virat Kohli but right before the tour, Rohit was ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury and KL Rahul replaced him for the role. In fact, he got a chance to lead India in the second test match at Johannesburg as Virat Kohli was ruled out for the match due to an upper back spasm. So the selectors will weigh in options carefully.
“Rohit Sharma is the front runner to be the test captain but sources say selectors could have a fresh discussion on India’s new Test captain. KL Rahul being the other name. As per process, a designated vice-captain would become the next captain but selectors could debate all formats captaincy being a burden for one individual and go for a separate captain in tests,“ a BCCI source told Times Now.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022
The other likely candidates would be Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah. Pant might miss out because it’s a little too early for him to give the burden of Test captaincy while Bumrah’s workload management would be the thing that might go against him.
India’s next test series will be against Sri Lanka in February-March. They will also play a Test match in England which was postponed from the last year’s series. In the next season, India will host Australia in a 4-match series at home while they will travel to Bangladesh for a two-match series.