Former
India coach Ravi Shastri said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season
could give BCCI and its senior selection committee a significant lead about who
could be India’s next captain in all three formats. At this moment, 34-year-old
Rohit Sharma is leading India in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. The opening batter
replaced former skipper Virat Kohli, who stepped down from T20I captaincy and
was sacked as ODI captain in November last year. In January this year, Kohli stepped down as Test captain.

But
given Rohit Sharma’s age, it is certain that he is not a long term solution for
India, and he is going to be replaced by an established young cricketer in near
future. Even the selection committee chairman Chetan Sharma had said that a
youngster will be groomed for the role under Rohit’s captaincy.

“Rohit’s
not getting any younger. Neither is Virat (Kohli). They’ll have to look at who
might be the captain two years, three years down the line,” Shastri said
in an interview with ESPNCricinfo.

Rohit
Sharma was appointed India’s white-ball captain after Virat Kohli relinquished
the role last year. As BCCI sacked Kohli after India’s Test series
defeat against South Africa in January this year, the red ball captaincy was
also handed over to Rohit.

Rishabh
Pant, KL Rahul, who led India in the white-ball series against South Africa
early this year, and Shreyas Iyer are among the promising faces in the current
set-up of Indian cricket. The trio will be in action in the IPL as captains.
Pant will be leading Delhi Capitals, Rahul Lucknow Super Giants while Iyer is
the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders.

“So
that’s where I’ll be looking at. I’ll be looking at Rishabh Pant. I’ll be
looking at Shreyas Iyer. Very closely. Of course KL Rahul, the way he handles
that side. And Hardik for the simple reason if that can energise in him a
manner that can make him come out and play with gay abandon.”

The
2022 edition of IPL begins on March 26 with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings
taking on the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai.