KL Rahul in line to eventually lead India after Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma?

After Virat Kohli made the announcement that he will step down as India's T20I captain on Thursday, it sent shock waves across the cricketing landscape. With Rohit Sharma likely to step up next, one name that might make a case for the skipper role in the not-so-distant future is KL Rahul. There is a sense of déjà vu to the proceedings as Rahul had made his Test debut in the 2014 Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by replacing Rohit.

KL Rahul in line to eventually lead India

At a relatively young age of 29, KL Rahul is already in the running to be one of the shining lights in India's future. If experts are to be believed, he might one day even wear the mantle of India's captain.

Sunil Gavaskar said on Thursday that India should groom Rahul as a future captain and wants the BCCI to make the stylish right-handed batsman India's vice-captain for the time being.

"It's a good thing that the BCCI is looking ahead. It's important to think ahead," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Sports Tak.

"If India are looking to groom a new captain, then KL Rahul can be looked at. He has performed well. Even now in England, his batting was very good. He has been performing well in IPL and 50-overs cricket as well at the international stage. He can be made vice-captain," added Gavaskar.

Throughout his career, Rahul has always drawn praise for his performances from the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid as well as Chris Gayle and Brian Lara which bodes well for the cricketer's future.

Rahul is the first Indian to score a century on One Day International debut when he scored an unbeaten ton against Zimbabwe in 2016. He also joined an elite club when he became only the third Indian to score a century in all three formats of international cricket after an unbeaten 110 against West Indies in a T20 match, propelling himself alongside modern Indian stalwarts Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma.

Rahul had started cricket training at the age of 10 and made his first-class cricket debut for Karnataka in the 2010–11 season and in the same season, he represented his country at the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, scoring a total of 143 runs.

His test debut at the MCG, however, was an occasion to forget as he just made three runs in the first innings and in the second innings, made only 1 run. He had a dramatic redemption in the next Test match at Sydney as he stroked his way to a patient century, proving that he belongs to the national side.

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