Indian skipper Rohit Sharma suffered an injury in the third T20I between India and West Indies. Chasing 165, Rohit Sharma started well but later seemed to struggle with an issue. Later, BCCI confirmed that Rohit had a back spasm. Now, a PTI report has said, “Rohit Sharma likely to miss 4 weeks due to injury. Highly to miss Asia Cup in UAE.” With this, India will have a tough challenge in replacing the Indian skipper. Asia Cup will start on 27th August with India taking on Pakistan on 28th August. In this article, we take a look at three players who might captain India if Rohit Sharma misses the Asia Cup due to injury.
1) KL Rahul
KL Rahul has had his own injury issues for a while now. He had surgery in Germany and was all set to be a part of the West Indies series. However, he contracted COVID and could not take part in it.
Nevertheless, he is likely to be fit for the Asia Cup. In that scenario, he would be the likely option to replace Rohit Sharma as the skipper. Rahul was anyways the second option and the others got an opportunity recently only in his absence.
🚨 UPDATE: #TeamIndia captain Rohit Sharma has a back spasm.
The BCCI medical team is monitoring his progress.#WIvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 2, 2022
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2) Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant is one of the players who might captain India if Rohit Sharma misses the Asia Cup due to injury. The wicket-keeper batter led India in the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa. If KL Rahul is not available, Pant might take the captaincy duties.
Pant did have some issues with the start of his captaincy career. However, he steadied it with a few wins. Pant is seen as a full-time India skipper in the future. Hence, he has to make these opportunities count.
3) Jasprit Bumrah
A few months ago, the selection committee had stated that even Jasprit Bumrah is part of the leadership group. In line with this, he led India in the fifth Test match against England.
Having been rested for the West Indies assignment, Bumrah is likely to be available for the Asia Cup. Therefore, he is also one of the options for Rahul Dravid and co. However, considering he has not had experience captaining a shorter-format squad, the others may have a better chance of becoming the skipper.