Is Rohit Sharma the right man to replace Virat Kohli after T20 WC 2021? India have these 3 options

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Dubai, November 1: Despite having three matches left as per schedule, India’s journey in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 seemed to have come to an end.

India will require a massive surge in Net Run Rate and a couple of other results to go their way for Virat Kohli’s band to enter the semifinals from Group 2.

But at this stage it looks extremely difficult. Post this World Cup, India will get a new captain in T20I format, and who should succeed Kohli?

Let’s a take a look at the options India is having at the moment for captaincy.

1. Rohit Sharma

This will be a default answer of almost all Indian cricket fans. After all, Rohit is a white ball monster and have accomplished some incredible feats. He also has guided Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles in the last 8 editions. So, he looks a natural fit. But in six months time, Rohit will turn 35, and will it be a wise call to give captaincy to a player who is in his mid 30s?

Even if the selectors want an experienced name to handle the saddle for a while i.e till the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia in October-November, they would do well to groom a younger captain.

2. KL Rahul

Rahul has showed some good spark as the captain of Punjab Kings and his batting seemed not to have affected by the heaviness of leadership role. Of course, the PBKS have not reached even the IPL play-offs in the two seasons of having Rahul at the helm. But he did his job with a lot of calmness even when the tide was against them. Perhaps, he can mature into a better captain.

3. Shreyas Iyer

In the IPL 2020, Shreyas made a fine impression as captain leading the Delhi Capitals to the final. Shreyas led well and kept the team together and emerged a fine communicator. The injury ahead of IPL 2021 did not allow him to contribute as big as he would like to. But Shreyas remains a fine batsman in limited over formats. At 26, he gives a long-term option too.

4. Rishabh Pant

Pant was given the captaincy of DC as a rather desperate measure after Shreyas Iyer missed the first phase of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury. But the left-hander juggled between tri-point duties of wicketkeeping, frontline batsman and captaincy with a good degree of ease. He continued to lead even when Shreyas returned for the IPL 2021 second phase held in the UAE and carried the team to the play-offs for the second year in a row.

Pant is just 24 and has a long career ahead of him. He could be a good choice for the selectors to fall back upon. In a way, Pant reminds of MS Dhoni too, who took over captaincy in 2007 as a fresher and held onto the post till 2016, landing India three ICC titles.

This is not to say that Pant will replicate that feat but India might just find an all-form, all-weather captain in him.