While Shreyas Iyer’s shoulder injury was a big setback for Virat Kohli-led India, it was a huge blow for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) as Iyer has led the team brilliantly in the last few seasons. With Iyer set to miss a major part of IPL 2021, the DC management is busy contemplating over names who can replace him as skipper.
R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane are some of the Indian player in the race while Steve Smith, who was bought by Delhi after being released by the Rajasthan Royals (RR), is also one of the candidates.
Pant is one of the top names in everybody’s mind and had also been groomed in the last three years for the skipper’s role. However, the only thing which goes against him, is his lack of experience as a leader.
“Pant is the first name that pops up in everyone’s mind. He is the hot property at the moment. But a few in the management pointed out that his lack of experience in captaining a team could go against him. Also, there’s thought that the added responsibility could hamper his form,” a source told TOI.
While the DC think tank is yet to finalise a name, some members are in favour of Pant taking charge as the captain while others want an experienced campaigner to lead the side in IPL 2021.
“There is no consensus on who should be captain yet. There’s a faction of the management which is convinced that Pant should assume charge and then there’s another which is keen to have an experienced captain,” the source added.
In terms of experience, Ashwin had led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for two seasons and is also an IPL veteran having played 154 matches in the tournament since making his debut in 2009. Dhawan and Rahane are also two other established names in the side who also have led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the past.
The DC management will now have a video conference with DC head coach Ricky Ponting on Friday to reach a consensus.
