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'He is going to play all formats for a very long time. Can't keep him out': Smith's big prediction for India 'superstar'
Among all the Indian captains in the IPL 2022, Graeme Smith has reserved special praise for the 24-year-old 'superstar'.
The future of Indian cricket is looking brighter than ever with a young, promising and exciting bunch of cricketers coming up. With seniors Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin still overseeing most of the proceedings, there will come a time, not long from now that a fresh bunch of players will help usher Indian cricket into a new era, the process of which has already begun. Rohit might be the all-format captain of Team India right now, but the current season of the IPL and probably a couple more to come after this, will determine who will captain India post the Rohit-era.
Currently, there are seven Indian youngsters captaining in the IPL – KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, almost all of whom are potential candidates to become the next Indian captain. Among these, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has reserved special praise for DC captain Pant and expects a bright future for the 24-year-old 'superstar'.
"I can't see Rishabh Pant missing out despite the likes of Samson, DK and Kishan doing well. Ultimately it will come down to combinations. Who gets picked will depend on the conditions, who they are coming up against… Pant has to be there. You can't leave out Pant. He is going to play all formats for India for a very long time. He's going to be a superstar," Smith told Cricket.com.
Smith is impressed with Pant's captaincy but feels his batting can be utilised to the fullest if the DC skipper promotes himself in the top order.
"Rishabh has got starts in every game, but everyone needs to be patient. The strike rate hasn't quite happened but everyone needs to be patient. Today DC needed to rebuild after losing a couple of wickets but true, the strong finish never came. They needed to get to a total of 170-180," Smith pointed out.
"Maybe the way forward is to promote Rishabh. Get him up to No.3 and take the pressure off him and give him more time. Maybe this way he’ll be able to set the tone and not think too much."
