Virat Kohli has a "pretty firm" hold on the Indian dressing room: David Gower

Former England captain and batting legend David Gower has opined on the prospect of seeing a split captaincy in Indian cricket.

Gower remarked that the captain himself knows when it's time to step down, but added that current skipper Virat Kohli has a "pretty firm" hold on the Indian team.

In a conversation with the Times of India, David Gower also pointed to Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane's contentment with playing Virat Kohli's deputy.

David Gower argued that until and unless Rahane wants to take over, the dressing room dynamics are in favor of Virat Kohli.

"I don't really think I'm qualified to speak (about that) because I think you have to look into the dynamics of the dressing room. Rahane, for instance, has always said that he doesn't want to take over from Virat. He said this in public anyway that he's very happy to stand in if he's needed. But he doesn't want to take over.

"And if that is the feeling in the dressing room as a whole, maybe the best man to ask is someone like my old friend Ravi Shastri. With Ravi, who is keeping a senior eye on events as head coach, he will know what the feeling is. A captain knows his days are numbered but at the moment Virat has a pretty firm handle on the dressing room," said David Gower.

Virat Kohli recently became the world's third-most successful captain in home conditions.

Ajinkya Rahane, on the other hand, hasn't lost a single Test in his short captaincy career. Rahane was also at the helm during India's historic triumph in Australia last year.

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Winning T20 series will be a huge confidence boost for England ahead of the T20 World Cup: David Gower

David Gower

David Gower also spoke about the ongoing five-match T20I series between India and England in the context of the T20 World Cup later this year.

Gower suggested that the visitors will be glad to have an opportunity to defeat the hosts of the marquee tournament.

He, however, also argued that the multi-nation competitions are still very unpredictable and anything can happen on the big stage.

"It is [result a confidence booster for winning team], which is one reason that England are very happy to be in India and experiencing the conditions that they will probably see or most likely see in a few months' time when they come back for the World T20. That's very good to have. It would be very good for England to overturn the result of the Test series. They will be more confident when they come back again," David Gower, who played 117 Tests and 114 ODIs, scoring over 11,000 international runs, said.

He added in this regard:

"But we all know about World Cups, whether they be T20 or ODI World Cups. However good your team is in front of you, it only takes a couple of mistakes at the wrong time and you can still lose or you're still not winning."

The T20I series is currently all-square at 1-1. The third match is set to commence on Tuesday, March 16.