KL Rahul frontrunner to be India’s T20I captain

While it is not yet clear if Virat Kohli will be asked to relinquish the ODI captaincy, KL Rahul has now emerged as the front-runner to be India’s T20I captain, if not for both white-ball formats, ahead of 34-year-old Rohit Sharma. Rahul has been a white-ball regular for quite some time now and has played different roles for the team. Cricket.com understands that with age on his side, national men’s team selectors are mulling his name for the role. 

“Rohit has a proven track record of leading sides. Selectors understand that and the massive role that he is set to play for India with two World Cups coming up in two years. However, they have to think long-term and that’s why Rahul is coming into the picture,” a BCCI source, privy to the developments, told Cricket.com.

In September, Virat Kohli announced his decision to leave the T20I captaincy and followed that up with an announcement to leave RCB captaincy as well. Now, with India’s World Cup campaign on the brink of elimination, pressure is mounting on Virat Kohli as far as ODI captaincy is concerned.

However, India’s newly-appointed head coach Rahul Dravid’s input will be crucial in that matter. Dravid will be present at the selection committee meeting to pick the squad for the New Zealand series and chalk out a blueprint for the next year. It is learned that a decision regarding the ODI captaincy will be taken before picking the squad for the South Africa series, which will be Dravid’s first overseas appointment as India’s permanent head coach. 

“Now that Dravid is formally on board, his inputs will be vital. Chetan Sharma and others will be sitting down for a formal discussion and his views will be accounting a lot for the process. It is left to be seen if he will want Rohit Sharma as skipper or KL Rahul. Further, selectors are also keeping an eye on the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to appraise the young talents who did well in the IPL. Everything will come onto the table during team selection,” the source added.