Top 5 players Virat Kohli passed on to Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli served as India’s full-time captain in all formats from 2017 to 2021 and during this period, the team played an aggressive brand of cricket and won the series in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. At home, India won the majority of the series under Kohli’s sensational leadership.

The success India got during that period was due to some extraordinary talents picked up by Kohli. These players broke into the Indian team and produced effective performances to help Kohli achieve the desired results. In February 2021, Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy mantle, and now these players are essential members of the Indian team on the back of their remarkable match-winning prowess.

Here are the top five players Virat Kohli gave to Rohit Sharma

5. Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur serves as an all-rounder in the Indian team. In August 2017, he made his international debut against Sri Lanka in the One-Day International (ODI) match in Colombo. Since then, the Mumbai player has played 38 ODIs for India, in which he has racked up 315 runs and 58 wickets.

In October 2018, Shardul broke into Test cricket during the West Indies tour of India. He played a vital role in India’s victory against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. Playing the final Test at the Gabba, his all-round performance (67 in the first innings and 7/155 bowling figures in the match) helped India win the game by three wickets. 

Under Rohit Sharma, Thakur featured in India’s World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final squad. The 31-year-old is consistently playing ODI cricket under Rohit’s captaincy and in the upcoming days, Shardul could be seen making an important contribution to Indian cricket with his all-round skills.