With Rohit Sharma testing positive for COVID-19, there are questions marks on who will lead India in the re-scheduled Test match against England, beginning in Birmingham on July 1. Several names are doing the rounds to lead India, if Rohit does not recover in time for the match. India lead the series 2-1, which got stalled midway last year due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp and even a draw in the upcoming test will be enough for the side to register their fourth Test series win in England.
With Rohit’s availability an issue, former Pakistan cricket team spinner Danish Kaneria recently talked about the options that India had to replace him for the top job in the crucial Test match. However, he vehemently opposed Rishabh Pant‘s name as a captaincy replacement.
“He is not even mature enough to be a captain. Because Rohit is doubtful for the Test match. Let’s see,” Danish Kaneria said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“When we talk about captaincy, there are three-four names which are coming up and Virat Kohli‘s name is not there. I was surprised that Kohli’s name has not been suggested. Pant’s name is there, Jasprit Bumrah‘s name is there. They might lead the team at Edgbaston. Because Cheteshwar Pujara has been playing for so long, he is the senior-most player in the team, he can lead the team if Rohit Sharma is not there. The best option you have got is Virat Kohli. You can make him the captain. Ravichandran Ashwin is another name which is coming up to be the captain is Rohit is not there.
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“Kohli is one of the best choices as captain if Rohit Sharma is not available. You also have Ashwin. Pant was given the captaincy in the South Africa series and he did a horrible job. His own batting collapses when he does captaincy. Rishabh Pant should not be the captain any more. Ravichandran Ashwin can be a good choice. I think the load should not be on Bumrah. he should concentrate on his bowling. It is Test cricket. I would not keep Bumrah or Pant for captaincy.”
India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
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