Dilip Vengsarkar
Dilip Vengsarkar. (Photo: BCCI)

Former Indian cricketer and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has stated that the BCCI needs to groom new players who can take over from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to become the future captains of Team India.

Currently, both Kohli and Rohit are in their thirties. Rohit has been handed the captaincy in the white-ball formats while Kohli continues to lead the side in Tests. With an eye on the future, the apex board needs to find suitable replacements, as per Vengsarkar.

Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli
(Image-Twitter)

The most important thing now is that the national selection committee has to groom someone who will take over the captaincy in the future. This is applicable not only to the captaincy but to players as well. Developing back-up players is key because they keep everyone playing in the team on their toes.

The selectors’ job is to groom players and to create sufficient options and bench strength so that whenever great players retire, there should be no void in the team. The situation starts getting out of hand once there is a void. Look at the West Indies. They ruled world cricket for 15 years and then went from No. 1 to the bottom-ranked team at one stage [they are No. 8 currently],” Vengsarkar wrote in his column for the Indian Express.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
(Image Credit: Twitter)

I also groomed Ishant Sharma and took him to England – Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Vengsarkar also added that he was partially responsible for the development of Ishant Sharma back in the senior pacer’s early days. Ishant has come a long way since then and has thrived under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

Ishant Sharma, Indian Bowler
Ishant Sharma (Image Credit: Twitter)

In my tenure as the selection committee chairman, we made Anil Kumble the captain and at the same time, we groomed MS Dhoni and others. I also groomed Ishant Sharma and took him to England, knowing that he won’t play there.

“But I knew he could prove to be more than handy in Australia later. Grooming will be key for this selection committee also. You can’t just throw players into the deep sea and expect them to swim. I don’t believe in such a thing,” Vengsarkar added.

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