BCCI may have some plans for future: Former Pak skipper picks Virat Kohli's successor as India captain

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has listed three names who could potentially go on to become the captain of Team India in the future. Though the massive responsibility is safe and sound in the hands of its talismanic batsman Virat Kohli, the subject will garner more attention in the future. Even though there has been some chatter in the past about a potential split captaincy across formats, it has mostly been among fans.

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt

Butt, while speaking on his YouTube channel, attempted to answer the big question when asked by a fan. He picked Rishabh Pant along with two other senior names in Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. Speaking about Pant, Butt said:

"I am not aware of his domestic cricket (records) in-depth but from what I have seen in the IPL, if they handed Rishabh Pant the captaincy (of Delhi Capitals), then the cricket board (BCCI) may have some plans for the future. Even though Kohli is still young as he is not going anywhere for the next 8-9 years."

Pant was made DC's captain after usual leader Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury he sustained during the ODI series against England. And Pant did not disappoint; before the tournament was indefinitely suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the country and inside numerous franchise bio-bubbles, Delhi was sitting pretty at the top of the table with six wins from eight matches.

Butt also lavished rich praise on Sharma's captaincy and rightfully so because the Mumbai cricketer has won five IPL titles with Mumbai Indians.

"Along with him (Pant), Rohit Sharma is an outstanding captain. I really like him as a captain. Strategically and tactically, he's a very good captain," observed Butt while speaking about Sharma.

Southpaw Butt was also left impressed by Rahane, who took over the duty from Kohli after India lost the first Test and in the absence of numerous star players over the course of the four-match series, guided India to a famous 2-1 win.

"Recently, they (India) won the Test series in Australia in which Ajinkya Rahane was handling the captaincy. He also did a very nice job in Australia. Tactically, he was spot on and his decision-making was clear," stated Butt.

Thirty-six-year-old Butt concluded by saying that India need not worry about this topic in the near future and whenever they need to, the side's got numerous options.

"In the long run, let's see who turns up and what kind of a scenario is created. For now, it is not a matter of discussion for Indian cricket. They have 3-4 people anyway," observed Butt.

For now, the Indian team's sole focus is on the upcoming tour of England. They will first play the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand followed by a five-match Test series against the hosts.

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