(UTV | COLOMBO) – Ponting’s ‘surprise’ over Kohli’s call and his take on successor.
It’s been more than a fortnight that Virat Kohli has stepped down from Test captaincy. During the period, several names have come up as potential candidate to replace the 33-year-old in the traditional format. And while many veterans of the game have placed their opinion explaining their right candidate to take over the role, former Australia captain and a legend of the game, Ricky Ponting has also joined the bandwagon, backing Rohit Sharma.
Rohit was earlier named as the new white-ball captain for India after Kohli was removed from ODI captaincy last November and was also named as the new vice-captain of the Test team replacing Ajinkya Rahane. Hence, he has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Kohli and become India’s all-format skipper.
In conversation with former cricketer Isa Guha on the first episode of The ICC Review, Ponting explained that Rohit’s success with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians is the main reason why he should be named as Kohli’s successor.
“I think the proof is in the pudding with what he has done at the Mumbai Indians since that moment on. He has been a very successful leader there and has been when he has led India on a few occasions as well.”
“If I go back to what I said at the start about being on top of your game when you take over a captaincy role, then it is pretty hard to argue after what he has done with his Test cricket in the last 2-3 years. He has played as well as anybody in the world through that period of time, and we know how good he is as a white-ball player.”
“They (BCCI) will have a decision to make what they want to do with their roles as well, whether they split roles or they want to keep the same captain for all formats,” he said.
Rohit has won five IPL titles with Mumbai Indians, making them the most successful franchise in the history of the tournament. Rohit has also led the Indian white-ball team in many occasions, but is yet to lead the side in red-ball cricket.
Besides Rohit, Ponting also weighed in on the other captaincy options. While he was effusive on his praise for Rahane’s leadership skills, he did not have an opinion on KL Rahul’s potential to be the next Test captain.
“To be honest, I have worked with Ajinkya – he is just a great bloke, a very, very good player. He hasn’t had his best period with the bat in Tests, but we saw what he can do leadership-wise in the series against Australia last summer.”
“I don’t know KL Rahul well – his name’s been thrown around a little bit. All reports I hear about him is he is a terrific guy, and he’s playing very well and starting to put together a really good Test record, particularly overseas which is impressive,” he explained.
There are also two other names that have been doing rounds – the young Rishabh Pant, who has worked with Ponting in Delhi Capitals, and the other is Jasprit Bumrah.