Three Reasons Why Shreyas Iyer But Not Rohit Sharma Will Replace Virat Kohli As Indian Skipper

Virat Kohli is currently leading Team India, although aged 31, he won’t get any younger, so the BCCI is starting to keep one eye on the future. Due to this, young players are nowadays being appointed as the skipper of India ‘A’ to prepare them for the upcoming challenges. Shreyas Iyer was previously leading the Indian reserves before he was promoted to the senior team.

After India’s shambolic defeats in the ODI and Test series versus New Zealand, people have been calling for the head of Kohli, and there have been calls to hand over the captaincy to Rohit Sharma.

However, despite all the plaudits that Rohit deserves, he is also 32 years old and will probably play for a couple of years at the top level. Therefore, the management should look to bring in a young player as the successor to Kohli.

In the current scheme of things, Iyer looks the most likely candidate to take over the baton from the current Indian skipper.

From struggling to break into the senior side to cementing his place in the number four slot, the 25-year-old has surely come a long way.

Here are three reasons why Shreyas Iyer but not Rohit Sharma will replace Virat Kohli as Indian skipper:

3) A young team needs a young skipper

With the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, all going across the age of 30, expect a lot of fresh faces to take over in the Indian team.

Young players such as Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar are waiting in the wings, and a young captain like Shreyas Iyer will surely show faith in them. It will be a tough choice surely, but a logical one.

Back in the times, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni was chosen ahead of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh for captaincy, the decision came as a shock but proved to be a great call in the long term. Iyer being appointed as the captain after Kohli would be a similar choice.

Moreover, the middle-order batsman always thinks about the team first, which is why we rarely see him go gung-ho behind bowlers from the start. Instead, Iyer takes time which shows his maturity as a cricketer.

Therefore, he is a good candidate to take over from the reigns from Kohli.

2) Shreyas Iyer getting better at captaincy with each passing day

The thing is that the ability to make crucial calls as captain comes with time. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did not become good skippers overnight, it took them quite a few years.

Between Rohit and Shreyas Iyer, the latter has a long career ahead of him, age-wise. He has shown his ability as skipper in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Delhi Capitals (DC), and without a doubt, Iyer will only get better with each passing day.

Having already led India ‘A’ as well, the right-handed batsman has quite some experience under his belt, and with time, he will eventually develop into a better player and better captain.

The same argument doesn’t apply to Rohit who is a spectacular short-term fix, but with his age of 32, it won’t be a decision that will profit Team India in the longer run.

1) Shreyas Iyer would be the true successor to Virat Kohli

At the beginning of his career, Virat Kohli came out to bat number four, the slot where Shreyas Iyer bats currently. With time, Kohli’s ability meant that he was promoted up the order so he could play more balls, and do more damage.

Iyer recently hit a century against New Zealand batting at number four. Age-wise, maturity-wise, the Mumbai born batsman seems like a perfect pick to replace the current Indian skipper.

Moreover, Iyer has a calm head, he remains composed under pressure situations, which are the signs of a great leader.

Kohli polished his leadership skills under MS Dhoni, Iyer, could do the same, under the Delhiite. It would enable for a smooth transition when the current Indian skipper steps down.