Sunil Gavaskar names Shubman Gill and Axar Patel as future India captains

Ajinkya Rahane’s reappointment as India’s vice-captain in the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies has raised quite a few eyebrows. A couple of former cricketers also pointed out that the team isn’t grooming any future potential leaders and thus, it can affect the national team in the coming times. Meanwhile, talking about future leaders, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar stated that Shubman Gill and Axar Patel can lead the national side in the coming years.

Notably, Axar was recently appointed as the vice-captain of the Delhi Capitals side in the IPL while Gill doesn’t have any experience of leadership. He, however, was the vice-captain of the Indian team at the U-19 level but barely played a significant role as the then-coach Rahul Dravid and Prithvi Shaw were in charge of the decision makings. Meanwhile, Gavaskar also added that stumper-batter Ishan Kishan can join the leadership race as well but for that, the youngster will have to cement his place in the playing XI.

“One is Shubman Gill and the other is Axar Patel [as future captains] because Axar comes in leaps and bounds, he just gets better every match. Giving him the responsibility as vice-captain will make them think. So, these are the two candidates in my view. If there are others, somebody like Ishan Kishan, once he cements his place in the team. He can come in the reckoning as well,” Gavaskar said while talking to Sports Today.

Nothing wrong in having Rahane as the vice-captain, but a missed opportunity to groom a young player: Gavaskar

The former cricketer went on to add that there’s absolutely no wrong in handing Ajinkya Rahane the baton in the longest format of the game but he also believes that a youngster could have been groomed in the meantime. He also added that the team management should have a proper chat with some of the players and inform them that they can lead India in the future.

“There is nothing wrong in having him (Ajinkya Rahane) as the vice-captain, but a missed opportunity to groom a young player. At least, tell a young player that we are looking at you as a future captain. So, he starts to think as a future leader,” Gavaskar added.