"I feel you must believe in the younger guys to get the job done" - Yuvraj Singh backs Rishabh Pant as India's future Test captain
Former cricketer Yuvraj Singh has backed young wicketbatter Rishabh Pant to take over as India's Test captain in the future.
Virat Kohli recently relinquished his leadership duties after a 1-2 series defeat against South Africa. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have appointed Rohit Sharma as the full-time captain.
But with the 34-year-old Rohit growing old, it is unlikely that the talismanic run-scorer will lead for a long period of time. Yuvraj Singh believes Rishabh Pant can be groomed as a future leader given that he has leadership abilities and is a sure-shot starter in the playing XI.
Speaking on Sports 18's show, "Home of Heroes," the former all-rounder said:
“You must get someone ready. Like Mahi became captain out of nowhere but they made him, right! Then he evolved. Keeper is always a good thinker because he always has the best view on the ground."
The 40-year-old Yuvraj further added that if given the required time, Pant is the right guy to lead the Test side. He added:
“I was immature at that age, Virat was immature when he was captain at that age. But he (Pant) is maturing with time. I don’t know how the support staff think about it, but I think he is the right guy to lead the Test team.”
Rishabh Pant has already captained Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He guided the Capitals to the playoffs last season and they have made a good start this season.
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"I see Rishabh could be the future legend" - Yuvraj Singh
The 2011 World Cup winner further added that Pant could be a future wicketkeeping-bat legend. Since his debut in 2018, Pant has established himself as a Test cricketer and dethroned Wriddhiman Saha to be the No.1 keeper across formats.
Yuvraj Singh added:
"You already have four Test hundreds. In terms of best wicket-keeper batsman, I see Rishabh could be the future legend."
The 24-year-old has amassed 1920 runs in 30 Tests at an average over 40 and has four centuries and nine fifties under his belt.