‘Will Play All 3 Formats’: Saba Karim Names Player Who Can Be Future India Captain

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes that star players KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant could be the all-format captain for the country in future.

“Very early days! I feel it is up to the selectors to first figure out whether they want to have one player as an all-format captain and if that is the case then you are left with multiple options. Number one is KL Rahul because he plays all three formats. Number 2, hot on his heels is Rishabh Pant who has been exceptional in the past couple of seasons,” said Karim on Sports 18’s daily show ‘Sports Over the Top’.

“Now he has grown into an excellent white ball player as well. So, you are left with these two options. But there are so many other things to consider. Number one is for how long Rohit Sharma can continue given his injury woes. So, these things also have to be kept in mind. Are you looking at a young leader? If that is the case, then let us get Rishabh Pant in because he is another player who will play all three formats in years to come. So, these are the choices which that the selectors have to deal with,” he added.

Notably, both Pant and KL Rahul have captaincy experience for Team India now. KL Rahul captained Team India for the first time in the second Test against South Africa in January 2022 and in the ODI series that followed. However, India lost all the matches. He returned back to the national side as captain during its tour of Zimbabwe, in which India is leading 2-0.

Pant captained Team India in the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa just after Indian Premier League 2022 in June. That series was tied at 2-2, after the final match was hit by rain.

Karim also expressed happiness at the fact that selectors persisted with Prasidh Krishna, despite the fact he did not have a good tour of West Indies.

“Yes, and you know what, against West Indies in the ODI, if I remember correctly, he did not have a very good outing. It is good to see that the Indian team management is persistent with Prasidh Krishna and that’s been the hallmark of this new set-up. Once they trust a player, they want to give him enough chances and that helps a player not to be so afraid of any failures and that is what we saw in the last outing of Prasidh Krishna,” he said.

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“He did well, he was able to change his length. That wicket that he took of a Yorker against a well-settled bat. That was quite good to see. There is still so much to learn for him. His track record outside India has not been really good because he is more of a hitting the hard length kind of a bowler and abroad, you need to change your length so that you are able to pick wickets as well as be economical. But I think these are great signs for Prasidh Krishna as the more he plays I am sure he will improve, and he will add to the rich pool of Indian pace bowlers that we see right now,” he added.

Krishna did not have a very good outing at West Indies, as he could take only one wicket in two matches.