Former India keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik answered fan questions and named his choices for the next India all-format captain. Currently, Rohit Sharma captains India in Tests and ODIs, while Suryakumar Yadav holds the reins in T20I.
Speaking on Cricbuzz Q&A, Dinesh Karthik ignored Jasprit Bumrah as a potential choice and instead named Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as two players who can become India’s all-format captains in the future.
Bumrah has captained India in one Test and two T20Is, while Shubman Gill recently captained India in 5 T20Is. Rishabh Pant has also captained India in 5 T20Is. However, Shubman Gill has been named the vice-captain of the India team in white-ball teams recently.
“Two players come straight into my mind who are young, who have the potential, and definitely can lead India in all the formats in the near future. One Rishabh Pant, two Shubman Gill. Both of them are captains of IPL teams and have captained India. I do think in time, they have the chance to become the all-format captain for India as well,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s AskCB show.
In the same show, Dinesh Karthik was also asked to pick the better Test batter between England’s Joe Root and India’s Virat Kohli.
Root has been in great form in Test cricket for the past 2-3 years. He is the no.1 ranked Test batter and recently scored twin centuries at Lord’s against Sri Lanka and reached the 34 Test ton milestone. He is now close to breaking Cook’s one more record and becoming the all-time leading run scorer for England in the five-day format of the game.
According to Karthik, numbers will indicate that Root is a better Test batter between the two, but he has seen Kohli from close quarters and knows how the Indian great loves playing big moments and series.
“Look, numbers will tell you it’s Joe Root, but my heart, the fact that he (Kohli) is someone that I’ve seen play in close quarters for the longest time now, over a decade. And I know how he loves playing those big moments, big series. Somebody has asked him questions. He will come back to you with an answer so strong, you’ll be like, wow, why did I even ask that question? If I was given a choice, who would bat for my life? Virat Kohli, no doubt,” Karthik said.
Root will be in action in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval and will have a chance to create history and become the first cricketer in the world to score 5000 runs in the World Test Championship.
Kohli, on the other hand, is expected to be in action against Bangladesh in a two-Test series in September.
