“When Rahane can come back and become vice-captain, why not Kohli?” - Former selector makes big statement on India’s captaincy conundrum

Former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad has stated that there is no reason why Virat Kohli can’t return as captain in place of Rohit Sharma. Pointing out to Ajinkya Rahane being reinstated as Test vice-captain after just one good match in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, Prasad opined that Kohli should be considered for leadership again in case the selectors are looking beyond Rohit.

Kohli’s captaincy stint with the Indian team came to a tumultuous end. He quit the T20I captaincy after the 2021 World Cup and was subsequently sacked as ODI skipper. After Kohli resigned as Test captain following India’s series loss in South Africa early last year, Rohit was named full-time captain.

Under Rohit, India went down to England by 10 wickets in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final. Subsequently, neither he nor Kohli has been part of the T20 set-up. Hardik Pandya will continue to lead the team in the T20Is in West Indies as well.

In an interaction with Khel Now, Prasad shared his thoughts on India’s captaincy puzzle.

“I don’t know if I can answer this question. I don’t know the mindset of the selectors. Usually, the mindset of the selectors should be now with the WTC cycle it should be a clear cycle, that’s how the mindset should be,” he said.

On being probed about which youngster can replace Rohit as captain, Prasad had a different take, he replied:

“Why not Virat Kohli? When Ajinkya Rahane can come back and become the vice-captain, then why not Virat Kohli? I don’t know what the mindset of Virat is on captaincy. In case selectors are thinking beyond Rohit, I don’t know whether they are thinking but if they are thinking beyond Rohit, then I think Virat can also be an option.”

While India tasted plenty of success under Kohli across formats, they failed to win any ICC event.

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Who is MSK Prasad?

Prasad is a former India keeper-batter from Andhra Pradesh. He represented India in six Tests and 17 ODIs from 1998 to 2000, scoring 106 and 131 runs respectively.

A former selector, he was the chairman of the committee that picked the squad for the 2019 World Cup.

The selectors’ decision to leave out batter Ambati Rayudu from the squad led to a massive controversy and is debated till now.