The Future of the Indian Cricket Team after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Indian Cricket Team recently held the tricolor high after conquering the T20 World Cup by beating South Africa on 29 June, 2024. The World Cup drought for the Men in Blue ended after 14 years and three key players who played a pivotal role in the victory decided to step back from this format forever. First it was Virat Kohli, who mentioned how he wanted to let youngsters take up the opportunity and how he wanted to focus on other two formats. Later, in the press conference, it was Rohit Sharma who dropped the bomb and lastly it was Ravindra Jadeja who decided to hang his boots in the shortest format. All of them were important elements in the Indian dressing room and the management will be looking for players who could potentially replace the three legends of the game. 

So what’s the future of the Indian Cricket Team after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli? Let’s find it out in this article by ZAP. 

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's shock retirement: 

Credit: Hindustan Times

The retirement of the legendary duo Rohit-Kohli will hurt the fans the most. These two players have been the pillars of the team. It came as a major shock but that shock was easily absorbed by the spectators as everyone was busy celebrating the victory. But now that time has passed, and it’s starting to sink in, Indian selectors need to find the right players who can lead up from the front, like Rohit-Kohli did in their era.

In total, Rohit has played 159 T20I matches, scoring 4137 runs, and Kohli has played 125 matches, scoring 4188 runs. But, these statistical figures are just an understatement of the relevance of this duo had in any dressing room. Their presence was enough to scare any opposing bowler.  

The Future Stars of the Indian Cricket Team 

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the perfect candidate to take up the spot of opener. The biggest advantage that he brings to the table is that he is a lefty and provides the team with a left-right opening combination. He has the ability to attack and even slow down the innings as per the situation. We all have seen his abilities in IPL and we know that he can hit a 15 ball 50 on a day. 

Abhishek Sharma is another exciting youngster who came out of nowhere but now is a plausible candidate to take up the spot. He too is a left handed batter. His 2024 IPL season was exceptional. He played 16 matches and scored 484 matches with an insane strike rate of 204.22. He played a crucial role in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s success and was seen playing cameos with Australian opener- Travis Head. His side passed the total of 250+ on 2-3 occasions and it was only because Ashishek Sharma was hitting the ball out of the park quite easily.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is the most technically sound candidate among all others. The way he times the ball is exceptional and is his biggest strength. But, one need not make an impression that he can’t hit huge sixes. He is equally capable of charging as he is capable of timing. He opens for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL and in a very short tenure, he has become a blue eyed person to Dhoni. The latter tends to praise the youngster a lot for his impeccable shot selections. 

Kl Rahul was dropped for the T20 World Cup 2024 but he seems to be making his way back in the national dressing room as the newly appointed coach - Gautam Gambhir holds high praise for him. KL has played for India a lot of times previously and is the most experienced amongst the lot. His strike rate, however, has been an issue of concern. But his experience and his style of play can help him make a comeback soon. One of the biggest advantages with Rahul is that he can be very flexible in terms of his batting order. 

Shubman Gill has displayed how he is a long term reliable player on multiple occasions. He is consistent and has a solid technique. He is surely one of the two replacements.

What we learnt from the India vs Zimbabwe Series?

Recently India played a five match T20 series against Zimbabwe and they won it by 4-1. The team was led by Shubman Gill and it was a great chance for the board to test their future playing eleven. 

In the first match, three youngsters made their debut- Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel. Subsequently, it was only Abhishek Sharma who made the most of his chance by scoring a high voltage ton. Later in the 4th match, Sharma too had to leave his opening slot as World Cup champion Yashasvi rejoined the team. 

A lot of shuffling and shifting was happening and amongst all it was Ruturaj Gaikwad who had to make the most adjustment. He is an opener, who had to play at number three and later at number four, However, great character was displayed by him as he delivered well in any role assigned to him. 

In short, the Zimbabwe tour threw some light on Shubhman’s captaincy and probable for the opening slot. It was a fruitful series as the selectors can narrow down their choices for the Sri Lanka tour. 

Is Hardik Pandya India's new T20 Captain?

Hardik Pandya will be the new leader of the young Indian team. He has shown his leadership qualities by lifting 2022 IPL Trophy for Gujarat Titans and then becoming the runners up in the subsequent season. 

However, the question arises who will be the vice captain, or who will lead the team in Hardik’s absence. It could be Surya Kumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah or Shubman Gill. 

The Role of the Indian Cricket Team Coach Gautam Gambhir

A lot is changing in the Indian dressing room. Along  with key players, Coach Rahul Dravid has too signed off and now it’s time for Gautam Gambhir to fill up his shoes. 

Gambhir has been an excellent leader and mentor in the IPL. He is a man responsible for the success of Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow SuperGiants. However, coaching the national side is different from coaching a team in franchise cricket. Hence, a lot of tough calls are to be made by the new coach. It will be exciting to see how things unfold for the national team and how they aim for upcoming ICC events like Champions Trophy, World Test Championship etc.