India speedster Mohammad Shami has opened up on Team India's next captain for the Test side. Recently, Virat Kohli quit the role after India's series defeat in South Africa by 2-1.

It was a surprising announcement from Kohli's side as he has a very good record as India's Test captain. He had already left the T20I captaincy and was removed as ODI skipper by BCCI selectors.

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Shami, speaking to Telegraph India, said that it is important to have a strong leader in the longest format of the game. He also added that it's good to have a home series to start India's new limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma's full-time leadership stint. 

"Of course, the team needs a leader (in Test cricket). Good that our first series (under the new captain) will be at home (against Sri Lanka next month), so familiarity with the conditions brings in some sort of a relief," he said.

The 31-year-old is not thinking much about India's next Test captain and his focus currently is only on his bowling. "But if you ask me, I will be focusing more on how I fare and how the bowling unit performs as a whole. I'm really not thinking about who takes over the captaincy. We have Rohit (Sharma), while Ajinkya (Rahane) is there as well, but all that matters is the result."

Speaking on qualities a leader should have, Shami said, "It's up to the individuals to focus more on their own performances and take bigger responsibility, as that leads to the results we expect."

(With Telegraph India Inputs)