Rishabh Pant finalized as Rohit Sharma's successor as India's Test captain

Former India National Cricket Team player Mohammad Kaif lavished rich praise on Rishabh Pant for his performances in the Test series against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. He said that the keeper-batter deserves to be the successor of Rohit Sharma in the longest format of the game.

India National Cricket Team faced a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand National Cricket Team in the three-match Test series at home. Facing the whitewash at home for the first time arguably was one of the lowest points in the history of Indian cricket.

Rishabh Pant looked in red-hot form in home Test season

But there are always positives, even on the lowest days, and for India, it was none other than Pant. The keeper-batter carried the Indian batting lineup in the home season and was one of the major reasons why the team was competitive with the bat against Bangladesh and New Zealand too.

Pant made his return to Test cricket following his horrible accident in the series against Bangladesh. He made an immediate impact and slammed a ton but came up with an even better performance in the Test series against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

On pitches, where almost every other Indian batter struggled to get going, Pant seemed to be batting on a different track. He played a magnificent knock of 99 runs in the first Test and then in the third game, he produced another special effort.

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Pant slammed half-centuries in both the innings and kept his team in the hunt. Till the time he was batting in the second innings, India looked like favorites to win the game as he bailed the team out of trouble and took them close to target when they were reeling at 29/5 in a chase of 147.

From the current team, only Rishabh Pant is in contention to be Test captain - Mohammad Kaif

Mohammad Kaif, while talking about Rishabh Pant's performances, said that the keeper-batter is the only deserving candidate from the current team to be the Test captain. While highlighting that the left-hander has scored runs everywhere, he hailed him as a complete batter. Speaking during Instagram Live, he explained:

"From the current team, only Rishabh Pant is in contention to be Test captain. He’s worthy of it, whenever he’s played, he’s put the Indian team in front. Whichever number he comes to play, he’s ready to play a match-winning knock. He’s scored in all types of conditions be it England, Australia or South Africa. Be it seaming to turning tracks, he’s a complete batter."

When Rishabh Pant will be playing his last Test match, he will retire as a legend - Mohammad Kaif

Mohammad Kaif added that Pant will go down as the legend of the game. He pointed out that till he was at the crease in the second innings of the Mumbai Test, New Zealand looked under pressure. He concluded by saying that keeper-batter deserves to become Test captain. He added:

“When Rishabh Pant will be playing his last Test match, he will retire as a legend. He’s shown that already, his keeping has improved drastically. Till he was at the crease, New Zealand didn’t breathe easy. Hence, I believe from the current lot, if you’re looking for a future captain, Rishabh Pant deserves to be Rohit Sharma’s successor, especially in Test cricket."

Pant was the highest run scorer of the home season having scored 422 runs from ten innings at an average of 46.88 and a strike rate of 86.47 with three fifties and one hundred to his name. He will be extremely crucial for his team going into the Australia tour.