Not Rahul or Pant! Vengsarkar names two senior players who can replace Virat Kohli as Test captain

Virat Kohli stunned the cricketing fraternity by resigning as the Test captain on Saturday (January 15). The 33-year-old Kohli's decision came a day after India lost the three-match Test series versus Dean Elgar's South Africa, in the rainbow nation.

Under Kohli, India achieved sizeable success in the red-ball format. India dominated at home, won a Test series in Australia, have an unassailable 2-1 lead over England in the incomplete five Tests in the United Kingdom (held mid-2021), won two games in South Africa and played the inaugural WTC final. Kohli-led India ended as the No. 1 ranked side on five consecutive years in ICC rankings after annual updates.

Thus, with Kohli stepping aside as the Test captain, his overall captaincy tenure as also ended. The national selectors have an important decision to make, with regard to choosing Kohli's successor in whites. Limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma is leading the race whereas some have suggested youngsters such as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant to take over.

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Former Indian cricketer and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar opened up in this regard and told Gulf News, "If you ask me, it may be a practical idea to have a stop-gap arrangement with Rohit Sharma or even Ravi Ashwin for a year or so and groom someone in the meanwhile."

From his own experience, Vengsarkar revealed how the selection committee had backed Anil Kumble to succeed Rahul Dravid as Test captain, despite many suggesting the then limited-overs captain MS Dhoni's name.

“Interestingly, my committee was faced with a similar situation when Rahul Dravid stepped down from captaincy and we had a demanding Australia tour round the corner. Some felt that MS Dhoni, who was leading in the shorter format, be promoted but we went ahead with Anil Kumble who did a fantastic job,” he recalled.

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Vengsarkar also opined on the reason behind Kohli's sudden resignation as Test captain. Many feel his own form -- having not scored an international ton since late 2019 -- was one of the main reasons for the right-hander's decision. “I don’t agree with this for I feel that Kohli has had a dream run for nearly five years as a batsman and captain. For all the talk about his current lean phase, I feel that Indians are often obsessed with statistics and that’s something that I don’t believe in”, concluded Vengsarkar.