Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that Rishabh Pant must be named India Test captain hours after Virat Kohli stepped down. Speaking to India Today, he was asked who could be the next in line to succeed Kohli to which he suggested the name of current wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant. Gavaskar said whoever gets the responsibility must be an automatic choice in all three formats. With KL Rahul failing in that proposition, and Rohit Sharma having fitness issues, Gavaskar’s answer made a lot of sense. “I would look at Rishabh Pant as the next India captain. And for one reason only, just like Rohit Sharma was given the captaincy of Mumbai Indians, look at the change in his batting after that,” he said.
“Suddenly the responsibility of being the captain meant that instead of playing those beautiful cameos, he was scoring 100, 150, 200. And that sense of responsibility if given to Rishabh Pant will make him score many of those wonderful hundreds that he scored.”
Gavaskar explained why the burden of captaincy can be handled by someone as young as Pant in Test cricket.
“Yes, I am saying that. Tiger Pataudi was captain at the age of 21 under adverse circumstances when Nari Contractor was injured. Look what he did after that. He took to captaincy like duck to water. I think what we have seen with Rishabh Pant as the captain of Delhi Capitals in the IPL, I do believe he has the capability of taking Indian cricket forward and making it a very exciting team to watch,” he added.
Virat Kohli took over from MS Dhoni as India’s Test captain midway during a Test series in 2014-15 after the latter retired from the longest format of the game. Kohli helped India regain the No. 1 spot in ICC Test rankings and reach the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship in 2021.
Under Kohli, India never lost a Test series at home and won their first-ever Test series in Australia.
