Mumbai, September 16: Virat Kohli on Thursday (September 16) announced that he will quit India's T20I captaincy post the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE in October.
Kohli has led India in 45 T20Is as the team won 29 matches under him. In that time, India lost 29 matches and two were no results. Kohli is the second most successful T20I captain of India as MS Dhoni led India to 42 wins in 72 matches.
The upcoming T20 World Cup will be Kohli's chance to add an ICC T20I silverware against his name.
So, who are the most likely candidate to succeed Kohli as India's T20I captain?
1. Rohit Sharma
Rohit is the most likely candidate to replace Kohli as the T20I captain of India. Rohit has a brilliant captaincy record in the IPL as the leader of Mumbai Indians. The right-handed opener has led Mumbai to 5 IPL titles since 2013, making them the most successful side in the tournament. He is a natural leader of men and at 34, the Mumbaikar is a bona fide legend in white ball format. Rohit remains one of the very few batsmen who has scored 100 in all three formats. He has also led in India 19 T20Is in the past.
2. Rishabh Pant
Since his debut, Pant has firmly established himself as a near-permanent member in the white ball format, the selectors might just mull his name too. He is young and potentially offers India a long-term captaincy option in this format. Pant has showed good composure while leading Delhi Capitals in the first half of the IPL 2021 in the absence of injured regular skipper Shreyas Iyer. The Capitals have announced that Pant will lead them in the IPL 2021 second phase despite Shreyas making a return.
3. KL Rahul
The elegant right-hander from Karnataka is a calm person on the field and has been impressive as the Punjab Kings skipper in the IPL. Rahul is a destructive presence on top of the order and showed some sparks as a captain. He too is relatively young and can offer India a long-term captaincy option like Pant.