Morena Mothupi
India’s Test captaincy job is officially up for grabs and knowing how cricket mad the South Asian nation is, the selection of the man who will step into the role is not going to be taken lightly.
On Saturday, 15 January 2022, one of the country’s greatest players, Virat Kohli announced that he is stepping down as the leader of the Test side.
Kohli’s decision came as a surprise to many, but there is a belief that he was left with no choice but to jump, before he was pushed.
The world-class batter’s relationship with the national association, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had deteriorated, as he clashed on a number of occasions with its president, Sourav Ganguly.
Last year, he was removed as captain of the One Day International side and then stepped down as T20 International skipper, and replaced by Rohit Sharma for both roles.
Kohli will have been disappointed with how his tenure as skipper ended, this after the Indians, ranked number one in Test cricket, suffered a 2-1 loss to South Africa.
The 33-year-old can, however, take pride in knowing that he vacates the position having guided his team to the top of the International Cricket Council rankings.
He may have stepped aside as captain, but he is still very committed to playing for his country when called upon.
The BCCI must now find a man to step up and led the world’s best Test outfit to greater heights.
A few names have been bandied about as suitable candidates to succeed one of the best captains of his generation.
Sharma is seen by some as a frontrunner, since he is already the captain of the ODI and T20 teams, but he’s never lead the Test side, even on an interim basis.
Someone who has stepped in, very briefly, is KL Rahul. He stood in for Kohli in the second match against the Proteas at the Wanderers, between the 3rd and 7th of January, which the South Africans won.
Another man who’s led his nation in the absence of Kohli is Ajinkya Rahane. He was at the helm for one match against Australia in 2017, one match against Afghanistan in 2018, the three-match campaign against the Aussies in 2020/21 and then New Zealand in 2021.
Rahane won four of the six matches he was in the role for, losing two.
Not a lot of teams give the captaincy reigns to a bowler, but spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah are also in the mix.
Bumrah has, in fact, confirmed that if the national association asks him to accept the responsibility, he will duly oblige.
“For me, I am ready to contribute in whatever position, whatever I can to the team. If given the opportunity, of course you would think about it. But that’s something I don’t chase, I like to do my work, however I can contribute. Having a post or not it doesn’t really matter, whatever contribution you can give, I try to do that. That’s always been my process and that’s always what I look to do. So, if given the opportunity, it’s an honour, there’s no bigger feeling than that.
India’s next Test assignment is against Sri Lanka, at home, in February and March, so the powers that be will have to be quick with their decision, tough as it most likely is.
