If not Virat Kohli, then who? 

#2 - Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma, who has been a revelation on this tour to England, would be another potential choice for captaincy. Having played eighty-six test matches, he is the most experienced member of this test team, and the other members of India's seam attack have spoken about how Ishant has helped them with his experience - both in international cricket and in county cricket. In terms of past captaincy experience, Ishant was named the captain of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team last season, and that is where the bulk of his experience comes from.

Notwithstanding his brilliant performance on this tour, Ishant Sharma is known to be inconsistent and often has phases where he looks thoroughly out of touch. In addition to that, he, like most other fast bowlers, is prone to injuries and other fitness-concerns. Further, his captaincy skills, vis-à-vis man-management and the non-cricketing aspects of it, remain rather unknown. All these factors indicate that Ishant Sharma is also an unsuitable choice.

Final Verdict: Despite being experienced, he remains inconsistent, injury prone, and untested with captaincy skills at the highest level.