"Rahul Dravid will have to groom the next leader after Virat and Rohit" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra believes Rahul Dravid will have to groom the next Team India skipper after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during his impending stint with the team. Chopra said if India doesn't start the process now, it will be too late by the time Kohli and Sharma, who are both above 30 years of age, retire.

Aakash Chopra's remarks came in a video on his YouTube channel. He listed the top challenges that Rahul Dravid might face when he takes up the arduous job from Ravi Shastri immediately after the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Stating the leadership challenge as one of them, Aakash Chopra proposed three possible heirs himself and said:

"Jammy (Rahul Dravid's nickname) will have to groom the next leader. Currently, you have Virat and Rohit. Rohit will become the T20 captain and possibly the 50-over captain in due course as well. And then you have Kohli who's the Test captain. Absolutely fine. But both of them are not under-30 but over-30. In such a situation, you have to groom the next leader and who's next in line. Because if you don't start grooming them now, then by the time these guys leave, you won't have anyone. Whether it's Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul, it's something that Rahul [Dravid] will have to figure out. "

Rahul Dravid's coaching stint will start with a T20I series against New Zealand in November. This will also be India's first T20I assignment after Virat Kohli's scheduled step down from India's captaincy in the shortest format.

While Rohit Sharma is the frontrunner to replace him in the role, his vice-captain for this series - or a temporary captain if he's rested - will likely give an insight into the selectors' roadmap for the team.

"Where are our white-ball pacers?" - Aakash Chopra asks Rahul Dravid to 'invest with a purpose'

Aakash Chopra further tried to get Rahul Dravid's attention to the apparent dearth of white-ball pacers in India. He observed that there are no "gun bowlers" in India's current lot of pacers in ODI and T20I cricket, which calls for "investment with a purpose" and an eye on the big picture.

Aakash Chopra said:

"We are not addressing it but we should that our red-ball pacers are ready. We have Bumrah, Shami, Ishant, Siraj, and some upcoming ones too. But where are our white-ball pacers? Because we have stopped taking wickets in the powerplay nowadays, whether it's 50-over cricket or 20-over, we don't take wickets in the powerplay at all. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is going downhill, Shardul Thakur is 'Lord' but he's not your gun white-ball bowler, Deepak Chahar has injury concerns and he's not your gun 50-over bowler."

Aakash Chopra concluded by saying:

"You will need to find fast-bowlers in white-ball cricket. We'll have to start investing a lot more with a purpose. You might lose a couple of small series here and there. Winning every bilateral game can't be your end goal because that'll disturb the big picture."

Meanwhile, India made improvements to their position in the T20 World Cup by defeating Afghanistan by 66 runs on Wednesday. The Men in Blue will next clash against Scotland on November 5.