Sports Desk:

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday named two contenders to captain Indian cricket team in the future, picking KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer as the options.

Shastri’s comment came while talking about Rahul Dravid, who replaced him as the new India head coach, following the T20 World Cup campaign earlier in October.

“Rahul Dravid knows his job. All I want to say to him is enjoy. KL Rahul is there, Shreyas Iyer has good leading qualities in the future especially in white-ball cricket,” Shastri told Indian Express.

Rahul has been named as India’s stand-in vice-captain for the Test series against South Africa. The announcement was name after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the three-match series with a hamstring injury. Rohit was earlier named Virat Kohli’s deputy for the contest during the squad announcement for the tour. Rahul has meanwhile led Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings in 2020 and 2021 season.

Iyer is yet to be introduced into the leadership group of the Indian cricket team. However, the youngster, who made his Test debut earlier in November at home against New Zealand, was named the captain of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals in 2019 and guided the team to their maiden playoffs appearance in seven seasons. He continued with the role in 2020 as well where the team reached their first IPL final, but missed the first half of IPL 2021 owing to injury and despite returning for the UAE leg, he did not get back his old role. Iyer was eventually released by the Capitals ahead of the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, the Indian team too has undergone a leadership change with Rohit taking over the responsibility of the white-ball format. Kohli had stepped down from the T20I captaincy after the forgettable World T20 campaign in the UAE and a month later was removed from ODI captaincy.

Taking about the decision, Shastri said, “Once Virat said he didn’t want to lead T20s, it opened for Rohit. He should be the white-ball captain.”

Source: Hindustan Times