“Rohit and KL are the two favourites” – Steve Smith on India’s new Test captain

Australia batter Steve Smith has shared his opinion on the front-runners to inherit the Indian Test captaincy from Virat Kohli. He opined that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are in the running for the job.

Kohli quit the Test captaincy on January 15 subsequent to the 1-2 series defeat against South Africa. Since then, former and existing players have speculated and deliberated about India’s new Test captain. Smith didn’t leave himself out of the deliberations.

In an Instagram Q&A session, the batter was asked to share his thoughts on who should be the new captain of the Indian Test team.

Responding to the question, Smith said:

“Firstly, congratulations to Virat. He’s led the Indian team superbly well for last six or seven years. He has done a terrific job.”

He continued:

“Looking forward, I would say probably Rohit or KL [Rahul] are the two favourites.”

Some reports have claimed that Rohit Sharma will be the new Test captain. This seems favorable considering his leadership skills and the fact that he has already been appointed as the captain in white-ball formats.

However, the BCCI is expected to announce the new captain only before the Test series against Sri Lanka in the last week of February 2022.

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“He played unbelievably well and set the series up for us” – Steve Smith on Travis Head’s innings in first Ashes Test

Australia won the five-match 2021-22 Ashes series 4-0, absolutely decimating England in all aspects of the game. Steve Smith, in his Instagram Q&A session, was also asked about the performances of Travis Head and Usman Khawaja during the Ashes.

Responding to a question about Head, he said:

“I think that first Test match at the Gabba, where he just took the game on and played unbelievably well, set the series up for us. It’s always important to do it in the first match of the series, he did it and took the game away.”

Head scored a brilliant 152 in the first innings of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. Head also scored a century in the first innings of the fifth Test in Hobart. He was awarded the Man of the Series award for being the highest run-scorer in the series.

Khawaja, on the contrary, had a fairytale return to the international arena. Head had contracted COVID-19 and Khawaja was brought into the side in the fourth Test as a substitute.

Khawaja batted like he had never left international cricket and hit twin centuries – 137 and 101 – in Sydney.

Responding to a question on Khawaja’s performance, he said:

“Couple of amazing knocks weren’t they? To be able to come back into the side and pull that off straight away was pretty special. And to score back to back hundreds in an Ashes Test match, not too many blocks have done that, have they?”

Smith will next feature in the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting February 11, 2022.