Three Players Who Can Replace Virat Kohli As Team India's Test Captain
Let's have a look at the top three contenders who can replace legend Virat Kohli as team India's Test captain.
New Delhi: Indian cricket team's most successful Test captain, Virat Kohli on Saturday resigned as national team's captain for the longest format of the game. His decision to step down as Test skipper comes a day after team India lost the three-match Test series 2-1 against South Africa. The 33-year-old had recently relinquished the T20 captaincy and was later dropped as India's ODI captain by the BCCI.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022
After Virat resigned as Indian cricket team's Test skipper, the biggest question which arises now is who will the selectors name as Virat's replacement? Let's have a look at the top three contenders for India's Test captaincy.
1. Rohit Sharma: The star hard-hitting India opener, who is still recovering from an injury, was recently named as team India's captain for T20 and ODI formats.
With Virat leaving the Test captaincy, the biggest name in Indian cricket who has the biggest claim to the Test captaincy is none other than senior batter Rohit Sharma. Rohit has zero experience when it comes to Test captaincy and this might also work against him when selectors think of Virat's replacement.
2. KL Rahul: KL Rahul is also one of the biggest contenders for team India's Test captaincy, especially after he led the national team in the Ind vs SA 2nd Test against South Africa in Johannesburg. Though India lost the 2nd Test, KL Rahul's captaincy was lauded by many. In Rohit's absence, the wicket-keeper batter has also been named India's ODI skipper for the upcoming series against Proteas.
3. Jasprit Bumrah: India's leading pace bowler, Jasprit Bumrah is the third biggest contender. Recently, Jasprit Bumrah was given team India's vice-captaincy for the three-match ODI series against South Africa. There are chances that selectors might pick Bumrah as India's Test captain, just like Cricket Australia named fast-bowler Pat Cummins as Australia captain for the Ashes 2021-22 series.
Virat Kohli captained the national team in 68 Test matches. Under his captaincy, team India has won 40 matches and lost 17. He is so far team India's most successful Test captain in International cricket.