If not Virat Kohli, then who? 

In light of the Indian team's inconsistent performances in their Test series against England, and the constant chopping and changing to the line-up, some critics, albeit limited in number, of Virat Kohli's captaincy have begun cropping up. These critics have argued that Kohli's selection style of constantly changing the squad is adversely impacting the confidence of players; while that is the main point of criticism levied against the current Indian captain, others points of criticism such as his potentially 'authoritarian' nature and defensive mindset while fielding have also come up.

A common response to these critiques is that the Indian Test team currently has no other player that can lead the side. This article assesses potential candidates that could lead the side, if India were to replace their captain.

Note: This article is based on a hypothetical situation, and is written solely to provoke thought; the author of this article is, by no means, advocating for a change in captaincy of the Indian Test team.

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#3 - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-spinning all-rounder from Tamil Nadu, is known to be an extremely intelligent, tactically astute, and thoughtful cricketer in cricketing circles; naturally, these characteristics, along with his seniority in the test side, make him one of the more tempting captaincy alternatives. In addition to occasionally leading his state side, Ashwin's main captaincy comes from the IPL, where he was the captain of Kings XI Punjab in this year's edition. While his team did finish seventh in the table, he impressed one and all with his captaincy, particularly in the first half of the tournament.

However, that being said, India play a lot of their cricket in overseas conditions, and a spinner's position in the side is not certain. Further, Ashwin is still not India's clear first-choice spinner in overseas conditions, and this means that even in conditions where India play a spinner, he may not merit a place in the 11. A captain's spot in the side needs to be assured, and this in itself makes him an unsuitable choice.

Final Verdict: Tactically astute cricketer, but his place in the side is not guaranteed in overseas conditions, which automatically makes him unsuitable.

#2 - Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma, who has been a revelation on this tour to England, would be another potential choice for captaincy. Having played eighty-six test matches, he is the most experienced member of this test team, and the other members of India's seam attack have spoken about how Ishant has helped them with his experience - both in international cricket and in county cricket. In terms of past captaincy experience, Ishant was named the captain of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team last season, and that is where the bulk of his experience comes from.

Notwithstanding his brilliant performance on this tour, Ishant Sharma is known to be inconsistent and often has phases where he looks thoroughly out of touch. In addition to that, he, like most other fast bowlers, is prone to injuries and other fitness-concerns. Further, his captaincy skills, vis-à-vis man-management and the non-cricketing aspects of it, remain rather unknown. All these factors indicate that Ishant Sharma is also an unsuitable choice.

Final Verdict: Despite being experienced, he remains inconsistent, injury prone, and untested with captaincy skills at the highest level.

#1 - Ajinkya Rahane

The current vice-captain of the team, Ajinkya Rahane would naturally be the obvious choice to lead India in case they were to make a change. Rahane, who has been in the role for the last three odd years, has displayed the traits of calmness, maturity, and decisiveness needed to lead an international cricket team. In addition to being the vice-captain of the Indian test team, Ajinkya Rahane has had leadership experience in the IPL, most recently captaining the Rajasthan Royals to the playoffs in this year's edition of the IPL.

While Rahane's captaincy abilities and credentials make him an extremely attractive alternative, as a batsman, he has struggled. Over the last two years, and particularly over the last year, Rahane just has not seemed like the same player. A bad phase that began with a peculiar weakness against the short ball in the home series against New Zealand in 2016 never seems to have fully ended, and Rahane has gradually struggled more and more as a player.

In fact, he has been so out of touch that the team management decided to drop him from the playing eleven at the beginning of the series against South Africa, just earlier this year. While Indian fans will hope that Rahane returns to his previous self, his current inconsistencies do not even make him a certainty in the eleven, which, in spite of his seemingly stellar captaincy credentials and abilities, makes him an extremely unattractive option.

Final Verdict: Seems to possess all the captaincy skills; only if he was as consistent as he once used to be.