Not Jasprit Bumrah! Dinesh Karthik Names 2 Players Who Can Become India's All-Format Captain In Future

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has ignored Jasprit Bumrah and instead picked Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as two players who can become India’s all-format captains in the future. Gill made his captaincy debut for India in July 2024 during the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, whereas Pant’s first series as India captain was against South Africa in June 2024.

Bumrah, on the other hand, has led India in one Test (against England in July 2022) and two T20Is against Ireland in August 2023 so far. He is the current vice captain of the Indian Test team and had served as vice captain of India’s ODI team in the ODI World Cup last year after Hardik Pandya was ruled out due to injury.

But despite that, Karthik has overlooked the 30-year-old star pacer and instead backed the two youngsters to take the top job of leading India in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is at the same time.

“Two players come straight into my mind who are young, who have the potential, and definitely can lead India in all the formats in the near future. One Rishabh Pant, two Shubman Gill. Both of them are captains in IPL teams and have captained India. I do think in time, they have the chance to become the all format captain for India as well,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s AskCB with DK show when asked about “India’s next future captain of all formats.”

Gill, who led India to a 4-1 series win in his assignment as captain, was appointed as India’s vice captain for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka in July-August. He was preferred over Hardik Pandya for the role in the shortest format series against the island nation.

Gill, who made his India debut in 2019 during an ODI match against New Zealand, is a key member of the Indian team in all three formats of the game. The 24-year-old right-handed batter, however, missed out on a place in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad but is likely to be the first choice opening partner for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the future after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements from T20Is on June 29.