Former Chief Selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Dilip Vengsarkar has launched a scathing attack on the BCCI and the incumbent Selectors for lack of vision and planning for the appointment of future skippers of the Men in the Blue national cricket team.
Vengsarkar criticized BCCI’s decision to elevate Shikhar Dhawan as the captain of India’s ODI team for the Sri Lankan series in 2021. Vengsarkar was of the opinion that future captains shall be groomed when senior players are on rest and the BCCI instead appointed veteran Dhawan with the eminent position.
“The unfortunate part is that the selectors I have seen over the last six-seven years neither have the vision, deep knowledge about the game or cricketing sense. They made Shikhar Dhawan India captain (when tours overlapped and main players were unavailable); it is where you can groom the future captain,” Vengsarkar told Hindustan Times.
Current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is facing severe backlash after he failed to lead the team to victory at the 2022 Asia Cup, T20 World Cup and the recently concluded World Test Championship Final 2023 against Australia.
Dilip Vengsarkar Highlights Having groomed no young skipper in the Indian Team
Rohit will continue to lead India at the upcoming 2023 Asia Cup and subsequently, the ICC World Cup that is being hosted by India. All eyes will be on Sharma & Co. who now face a big challenge. Even if India performs well and clinches the title, it is high time that the BCCI Selectors should groom a new skipper for future prospects.
The Indian team is very less opportunistic and always prefers to play the senior members. The average age of Indian cricketers in the national team is 28 years, which is much more than the other competitive nations. The youngsters shall now be groomed along with a potential skipper.
The frontrunners to be appointed at the prestigious position are Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul or Jasprit Bumrah. Previously, Virat Kohli had stepped down after achieving a lack of results. It will be interesting to find out BCCI’s outlook on the appointment of a future captain. Recently, Hardik Pandya was given the charge of the T20I team.
Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer Eyeing Asia Cup 2023 Return
