Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul: Who will replace Virat Kohli as Team India's next Test captain?

Picking Virat Kohli’s successor will be a difficult and tricky job for the Team India management. However, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are being dubbed as the frontrunners for the role.

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma (Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli's sudden and shocking decision to quit as Test captain has left Team India management scratching their heads as they will now have to pick the batter’s successor.

Kohli was at the helm for seven years and as per the numbers, he steps down from Test captaincy as the most successful skipper in the longest format of the game for India and fourth overall. Under his time as captain, India played 68 Tests, winning 40, losing 17, and drawing 11 matches, with a win percentage of 58.82 while registering memorable wins in overseas and home conditions.

Only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh have won more matches than Kohli as captain in Test cricket.

pic.twitter.com/huBL6zZ7fZ — Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022

Hence, picking Kohli’s successor will be a difficult and tricky job for the Team India management.

However, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are being dubbed as the frontrunners for the role.

Notably, Rohit, who was named Team India’s ODI and T20I skipper last year, was the designated Test vice-captain for the tour of South Africa and most likely there won't be any change to that hierarchy that BCCI has set in place. By natural progression, if all goes well and he is fit, Rohit Sharma will be leading India in Test match cricket with KL Rahul being his deputy.

Also, naming Rohit as the new Test captain might offer the team with much-needed stability after three resignations in the last four months. The home series against Sri Lanka can be the first assignment for the opener.

However, with two World Cups in two years and so much of cricket, Rahul can be named as the Test skipper or at least he could be seen leading the team from time to time as and when Rohit takes a break as a part of the workload management.

Moreover, age also could be a criterion in the selection of Test captain. Considering Rohit Sharma is 34 years old, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might not see him as a long-term replacement for Kohli, which makes Rahul the top contender for the job.

Interestingly, Rahul was named vice-captain in the recently concluded Test series against South Africa in the absence of Rohit Sharma and, after Kohli was forced out of the second Test due to an upper back spasm, Rahul even got the opportunity to lead the Test squad for the first time.

It is worth mentioning that Rahul has previous captaincy experience, having led the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for two years in a row and if BCCI considers the age factor and decides against putting one person in charge of all three formats then Rahul will be the board’s numero uno choice to replace Kohli as Test skipper.