The Indian cricket team is set to play a limited-overs series in Sri Lanka in July but the BCCI hasn't announced the squad for the tour yet. It has left the fans and cricket pundits guessing who's going to lead the team on the tour.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant will be on the England tour for the Test series and it gives the selectors option to try out a new face for the captaincy role. As per BCCI's announcement, India will play three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka.
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria wants the Indian selectors to find out a player for the role who can be groomed keeping the future in mind. He kept Sanju Samson, Shikhar Dhawan, and Hardik Pandya in the options but followed it up with a question.
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"The Sri Lanka tour is a great opportunity for India to possibly find its next captain and groom him. The choices aren't a lot. In fact, there are only two options. One is Sanju Samson, who has captained Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and looked good behind the stumps as well. The second option is the most senior player, Shikhar Dhawan. He is a senior player in ODIs and T20Is," Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.
"However, is he a long-term option to lead India in the future? Or Samson has the time and opportunity to improve himself going ahead? Or will Hardik Pandya be captaincy material? All these are tough questions. But as far as I am concerned, I will go with a player who, in the future, can lead India."
Kaneria feels Dhawan has good chances of being the captain on the Sri Lanka tour but he wants to go with Samson.
"Shikhar Dhawan is likely to get India's captaincy in Sri Lanka. Not Shaw, Samson… but Dhawan. But if it were up to me, I would have to go with Samson. We should be ready, that in the future, if Virat is willing to step down as captain, then he should be the next in line. We have to be ready that if Kohli isn't around, we need to groom someone. So I would go with Samson but Dhawan remains a strong contender," the ex-cricketer added.
