India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma is 35 and is nearing the end of his career. Thus, it’s fair to assume that the selectors must have started sorting out options for the future captain.
Post-IPL, the Indian management often hogged the headlines for their regular captaincy changes. The Men in Blue had eight captains this year. Amid this, several experts have weighed their opinions on the future captain and the latest to comment on it is Saba Karim.
The 54-year-old believes that Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul could be the future all-format captain of India.
“If the selectors decide that they want one captain in all formats even for the future, KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant are the preferred choices since they play all three formats.”
“I would rate KL Rahul as the no.1 choice and Rishabh at second, who has been exceptional in the past seasons.”
Rahul captained India for the final two Tests and 3 ODIs during the away tour to South Africa in 2021-22. He, however, failed to win any of those matches.
Rahul’s first victory as a captain came against Zimbabwe in the latest 3-match ODI series.
On the other hand, Rishabh also captained Men in Blue against South Africa when they toured India in June 2022. The series ended at 2-2.
However, both Rahul and Rishabh have received criticism for their leadership skills. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to IPL glory and captained India to a series win against Ireland, has been touted by many as India’s future white ball captain.
Pandya has been inactive from Test cricket in 2018 and was left out of Karim’s list.
Speaking on Sports Over the Top, he said, ” There are a few factors that need to be kept in mind. The first is for how long can Rohit continue despite his injury woes? Secondly, are you looking at a younger leader? If that is so, Pant is the perfect candidate with experience in all formats.”