“Would make Rishabh Pant the next Test captain”: Suresh Raina seconds Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion to elect Rishabh Pant as India’s Test captain

Suresh Raina seconds Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion to appoint India wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant as India’s next red-ball skipper.

It was MS Dhoni post his 90th Test match. It is now Virat Kohli post his 99th. Two Indian greats, two most successful Indian captains, and two sudden, ‘out of the Blue’ decisions to quit Test captaincy of the Indian Cricket Team.

Unceremonious exits on a sour note indeed, but two captaincy careers every Indian fan can be proud of. Kohli relinquishes from his post, thanks MS Dhoni for believing in him, and ends his career with the accolade of being India’s most successful Test captain ever.

Having commenced his Test captaincy stint in 2015, Kohli ends his brilliant run with 40 Test wins (including 16 Overseas Tests) across 68 Tests; India’s best captain by a distance. Dhoni (27 wins from 60 matches) and Ganguly (21 wins out of 49) are next on the list.

KL Rahul might perhaps be in line to become India’s next Test skipper, with Rohit Sharma having already been elected as White Ball skipper last year.

However, legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar, has reiterated that Rishabh Pant could have been the new prospect for the role of Test skipper.

Suresh Raina seconds Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion

Interacting with India Today post Kohli’s sudden announcement, Sunil Gavaskar was once again of the view that had he been handed the authority, his choice for Team India’s next Test captain would certainly be India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.

Former India middle-order batter Suresh Raina has also agreed with Gavaskar’s suggestion, while terming it as a good idea for the team moving forward.

Raina has, in the past as well, consistently heaped praises for India’s current Southpaw wicketkeeper in Tests.

Gavaskar had, earlier as well, advocated for Pant as India’s future captain, after he was impressed by his captaincy stint with the Delhi Capitals in the IPL previous year.

“He showed in the few games in the IPL that he is clever enough to learn and his usual street-smart savvy meant he was on top of most situations and was finding his own method to get out of sticky ones. He is one for the future, no doubt about it,” Gavaskar had remarked in May last year.