Shane Warne Names His Choices For India's Next Test Captain

Former Australia spinner Shane Warne feels that a wicketkeeper should not be a captain as he shared his choice for India’s next Test captain. His comments came as Virat Kohli stepped down from the Test captaincy after India’s 1-2 series defeat to South Africa which left the cricketing world in shock. While BCCI has not announced the new captain yet, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul are the frontrunners for the position as well.

Shane Warne, who is quite vocal about his opinions, stated that a wicketkeeper should not be a captain and picked Rohit or Bumrah to be India’s next captain of the Test team.

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“I do not believe a wicketkeeper (Rishabh Pant) should be a captain, I believe a wicketkeeper makes a good deputy, a good vice-captain. Looking at the Indian side, Jasprit Bumrah can make a good captain, Rohit Sharma can make a good captain,” Warne told ANI.

The spin-bowling legend has said that Rohit Sharma is the favourite one to lead India’s Test side but if Ajinkya Rahane returned to form in time then he can be an option too.

“Virat is such an inspiration to so many people” – Shane Warne

“Rohit has done a good job in shorter formats, so he will be the favorite to lead the side. KL Rahul could do it, I would love to say Rahane but he has lost form, if Rahane was in form or he finds that form again then he can do it. He is a very good captain, India is lucky to have so many options but I think Rohit will get the captaincy,” he further added.

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The veteran has further applauded former India captain Virat Kohli and said that he was saddened by his sudden decision of stepping down as India Test captain. Notably, Kohli has quit the T20 captaincy after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup last year. And, he was sacked from the ODI captaincy ahead of the South Africa series.

“Virat is such an inspiration to so many people, he is an inspirational leader and I am sad to see him resign as captain and step down. He is still playing Test cricket and he still believes that it is the number one form of the game. He will still be playing Test cricket for a long time and I look forward to seeing him play the longest format. I am a big fan of his,” Shane Warne concluded.