Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as India’s captain in ICC WTC 2023-25: History has repeated itself once again as team India succumbed against Australia in the grand stage to win the ICC WTC title. Australia defeated India in the ICC WTC Final at the Oval in London by 209 runs to become the first team in the world to complete their ICC trophy cabinet.
While there may be numerous reasons why India has not won any major games like ICC Finals for a decade, captaincy has always been one of the things that has come up as a key issue. Some say India adopts a defensive approach in the important games despite playing a fearless brand of cricket throughout the cycle and some believe there is some error in the captaincy and management.
It can be noted that with India losing to Australia in the ICC WTC Final 2023, skipper Rohit Sharma’s record of performing well in important games has come to an end. His record of not losing a single final has been shattered by the mighty Aussies, who never fail to perform in crucial games.
Following the loss the fingers are certain to be raised at the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma as well. Also, it doesn’t matter how decorated your hat is in franchise cricket, it counts nothing if your side has failed to win ICC championships over and over again.
Moreover, Rohit Sharma is also at the fag end of his career. His age, 36, doesn’t do any good to him and the BCCI will look to groom a new captain, although, not immediately, but the discussions will be there amongst the office bearers.
This article will lead you through Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as India’s captain in ICC WTC 2023-25.
Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as India’s captain in ICC WTC 2023-25
The captaincy has become one hell of an issue for the Indian management. While in limited-overs cricket, it seems sorted, the red ball is still under dark clouds. Let’s take a look at possible players who can replace Rohit Sharm as India’s captain in the next ICC WTC cycle.
Virat Kohli
Former team India skipper Virat Kohli had a bitter fall-out with the then BCCI brass, owing to which he decided to relinquish his test role following India’s test series loss in South Africa in early 2022.
Although Virat also hasn’t been successful in leading India to the coveted ICC glories, under his leadership team India touched new heights in test cricket and even remained one of the most successful teams.
However, it remains to be seen if Virat Kohli accepts the captaincy proposal if the BCCI offers him a second chance. It must be noted that Kohli led his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2023 in a few matches as the stand-in captain.
Ajinkya Rahane
Mumbai-born Ajinkya Rahane was the only batter who looked to go big against Australia in the recently concluded ICC WTC Final 2023. He scored 89 and 46 in the two innings of the test. He certainly owned his comeback game after 18 months and will continue to be a part of Team India in the future.
Under Virat Kohli’s leadership, Ajinkya Rahane was awarded the vice-captain’s role, however, he was stripped of the responsibility following a string of poor performances in the last year or so. He proved his captaincy with a famous win of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2021 with a severely depleted Indian side.
For a short-term solution, Rahane can be a good captaincy option for India’s test side.
Jasprit Bumrah
Although Jasprit Bumrah didn’t take part in the ICC WTC Final 2023 against Australia, he still is a very big part of the Indian setup. In fact, he is currently irreplaceable in the team and many experts reckon the presence of Bumrah in the Indian side could have made a big difference in the WTC Final 2023 in London.
Bumrah, currently, is recovering from his back injury. He underwent surgery to fix his issue a couple of months ago and is undergoing rehabilitation. The pacer will soon make his comeback and will be in action for India.
He was made captain of the Indian side for the one-off rescheduled test match between India and England in 2022 when Rohit Sharma was infected with covid. Although India lost that game against England, it gave India a new contender to become the test captain.
Many reckon Bumrah has all the ingredients to become India’s next test captain.
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For more details head to BCCI’s official website.