Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar feels that there is ‘nothing wrong’ in handing Ajinkya Rahane vice-captaincy for the upcoming tour of West Indies however he feels the BCCI missed an opportunity to groom a future leader.
Rahane made his comeback to the Test side during the World Test Championship (WTC) final and after a stellar show by the veteran, he was re-instated as vice-captain having filled the post earlier as well.
Gavaskar though feels that it should have been a good chance to test one of the youngsters while also naming two picks for future Test captaincy after Rohit Sharma.
Speaking to Sports Today, Gavaskar named Shubman Gill and Axar Patel as the two players who should be taken into consideration after Rohit. The 36-year-old has not enjoyed recent success with the bat, and he isn’t getting any younger.
India begin their WTC 2023-25 cycle with two-match Test series against West Indies and the BCCI should keep Ishan Kishan also in consideration for future leadership roles according to the veteran.
“One is Shubman Gill and the other is Axar Patel (as future captains) because Axar comes in leaps and bounds, he just gets better every match,” said Gavaskar.
He continued, “Giving him the responsibility as vice-captain will make them think. So, these are the two candidates in my view. If there are others, somebody like Ishan Kishan, once he cements his place in the team. He can come in the reckoning as well.”
The legendary opener also felt that giving vice-captaincy to Rahane is a good step however, if the responsibility was given to a youngster it would help them ‘think like a future leader’.
“There is nothing wrong in having him (Ajinkya Rahane) as the vice-captain, but a missed opportunity to groom a young player. At least, tell a young player that we are looking at you as a future captain. So, he starts to think as a future leader,” added Gavaskar.
India’s tour of the Caribbean commences from July 12, it will include two Test matches, three ODIs and five T20Is.
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