3 Young Indian Cricketers who can be groomed as future captains of team India.
A skipper or the leader of a cricket team is blessed with almost every right to take some of the most important decisions on behalf of the entire team. A leader is someone who takes the bullet on his chest when his team delivers a disappointing performance and at the same time, a leader is one who is widely credited for the team’s success.
The captain’s role is reckoned to be the toughest role to be at. From looking after your players in a poor situation to taking up criticism on behalf of the other 10 players, it’s certainly a tough ask. For such challenging work, a team require a strong captain. Fortunately, team India has been blessed with some of the finest captain’s cricket has ever produced.
The likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni have reached the pinnacle of leadership during their time. The recent, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the other two most formidable pairs who have led India to several memorable wins in tricky situations.
The two current Indian skippers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will have to anyway step down from their roles anytime in the future and team India will require a fresh face to successfully lead the Indian outfit.
This very article will take you through the top 3 Young Indian Cricketers who can be groomed as future captains of team India after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both relinquish their responsibilities.
It is important to note, India has a wide talent pool, all thanks to the IPL and domestic cricket. From nearly every city, India has a cricket player and if any city is left, surely anytime soon we will have one player from there as well.
Top 3 Young Indian Cricketers who can be groomed as future captains of team India:
KL Rahul:
The current team India’s vice-captain of the shortest format, KL Rahul, is the front-runner for the role. With several years of cricketing experience under his belt, Rahul is a strong man with a calm and composed brain.
He has been the skipper of Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a couple of years now. Owing to his consistent batting, Rahul was awarded the role in 2019. Though his term as Punjab’s skipper hasn’t garnered good results, he surely will have his learning which could turn to be a game-changer in coming years.
Now, having been given the vice-captain’s role in team India, KL will work closely with Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. To understand the tactics of the game, one can’t find someone more prolific than Rohit Sharma, who has won as many as five IPL titles in nine years.
Rishabh Pant:
Team India’s swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is the second one on the list. Consistent performances at the middle order have fetched Rishabh a central contract from BCCI and is the first choice stumper batsman for India in all three formats.
During the recent IPL 2021, an unfortunate injury to Delhi Capitals (DC) regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was a blessing in disguise for Rishabh Pant. The southpaw was appointed leader of the side for the Vivo IPL 2021 by Delhi Capitals.
Earlier, it seemed to be an absurd gamble from DC, especially when someone like Steve Smith and Shikhar Dhawan were present on the side. DC’s big gamble paid dividends to the franchise.
Rishabh did a fantastic job as the leader of the side. He not only took his side to the playoffs but also played mature cricket. His decisions were tactically sound in the field and was using his resources pretty accurately.
DC is looking for a long term captaincy solution in Rishabh Pant and is highly likely to retain his leadership roles in the coming season of the IPL.
The same goes with team India. To be India’s T20I vice-captain, Pant posed a stiff challenge for KL Rahul. The southpaw was in equal contention, however, KL Rahul’s experience in the format would have fetched him the position.
However, that doesn’t mean the end of opportunities. With a couple of more year’s of captaincy experience under his belt, Rishabh will be a tough contender to lead India. BCCI might hand over longest format leadership to him in coming years after taking an account of his progress as a batter and as a player for the team.
Shreyas Iyer:
The third man on the list is Shreyas Iyer, the regular skipper of Delhi Capitals (DC) before Rishabh Pant’s appointment. It was pretty unfortunate for Iyer to not get his very owned Delhi’s captaincy after his return from the injury.
Iyer has led several domestic sides in the past and his valuable experience after leading Delhi Capitals (DC) for two seasons will be a game-changer in the near future. He has certainly got the leadership qualities and can be a long term captaincy solution for whichever side he leads.
The Mumbai-cricketer is eying captaincy of another IPL franchise in the coming season. He certainly wants to lead a side and can’t settle with anything lower than that.
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