New Delhi: Virat Kohli's shocking resignation as Indian cricket team's Test Skipper during India' tour to the rainbow nation has undoubtedly put the Men's senior team selectors in a tough spot. Team India fans witnessed end of an era when when Kohli's reign as Test captain came to an end after India's heartbreaking 2-1 series loss against South Africa.
Now, the toughest challenge BCCI faces right now is who will step into Virat's shoes? Speaking of the same, team India's former coach Ravi Shastri opined that white-ball captain Rohit Sharma can become India's Test captain if he's fit.
After BCCI named Rohit Sharma as India's white-ball skipper, he replaced Ajinkya Rahane as India's Test vice-captain ahead of tour to South Africa. Unfortunately, he was ruled out of the tour after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Subsequently, KL Rahul captained team India in the 2d Test against Proteas as Virat Kohli was unavailable due to an upper back spasm.
“If Rohit is fit, why can’t he be the captain in Tests too. He was appointed vice-captain for the South Africa series but he couldn’t go there because of injuries. So why not, if he was made the vice-captain, why can’t he be promoted to captaincy.” Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying by India Today.
“Rohit’s vice-captain has to be seen. Rahul Dravid has to see who that person could be because that player has to be a certainty in the playing XI,” Shastri exclusively told India Today.
“I think, why name the vice-captain at all? Decide on the tour who is the most experienced player, who is playing well. You announce your vice-captain in advance, and later you realise that your vice-captain doesn’t fit in your XI,” he added.
Calling wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant a 'tremendous young player', Shastri suggested that Rishabh is someone who should always be kept in mind for leadership.
“Rishabh is a tremendous young player. As a coach, I was very fond of him, his attitude and the good thing about him was that he would always listen to you. A lot of people say, he always does what he wants but that’s not true. He reads the game well and would always put my team effort first than self. So he should always be kept in mind for leadership,” Shastri asserted.