Graeme Swann sees Pant as India’s captain in the coming 10 years

After the early exit of India from the short format T20 WC 2021, Virat chose to quit his captaincy while on the other hand, Rohit Sharma has been directly appointed by BCCI to lead the squad in T20Is. 

The 34- year old has been appointed in place of  Kohli as the latter will continue to lead India in ODIs and Tests but the solution does not seem to be longer than the period of two years-2023 World Cup. 

Swann in his opinion needs India to think about the coming years when both the big players Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be age bound and a new leader will be needed to take the team further. He believes that the team needs to take care of youngsters and train them according to their best potential. 

To prepare the best captain team India has someone who has the qualities of both Dhoni and Kohli. Graeme Swann said:

“Might be, but not for me (On Rohit being the next captain). You have to look to the future. I think India has a captain in waiting for the next 10 years. You know who I’m talking about, it’s Rishabh Pant. He did a great job in Delhi, he is very level-headed and he seems like a sort of a mix of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. He’s very level-headed like MS Dhoni, but he’s got a bit of spirit about him, like Virat. Like how he laughs and giggles and is chirpy behind the stumps.”

Swann further supports his opinion with some real stats that includes Rohit’s performance being the captain of the IPL team, but still, for Swann, it’s just the age difference that has got to be the major role and a reason for choosing Rishabh Pant. The right-arm spinner concluded:

“The only reason I’d say not Rohit Sharma is the age difference. With Rishabh Pant, you’ve got someone there for the next 10 years, whereas Rohit has been around a lot already. Rohit is a brilliant skipper, we know that and he’s done the job for Mumbai, so if he should take over, you’ve got a ready-made skipper. But if I were India, I’d think long-term and go for Rishabh Pant.”

Pant is the ideal cricketer to take India’s charge as he has played exceptionally well in the IPL 2021 Playoffs. He has contributed with bat and has been directly included in the squad throughout all the formats of cricket. Swann has gone to the extent where he claimed that if he was India’s selectors Rishabh would be his sure pick.