The King reigns supreme. Virat Kohli irrespective of the age factor has established himself stating that as long as he plays he will be the don of the batting in World Cricket. However, what do the society and the people do if one day the King is no longer in throne? Who shall take over?
The Succession Plan
Well, former Indian spinner Piyush Chawla did have his say on the matter however they are unrelated.
A Veteran’s Opinion
The veteran leggie Chawla, who is still effective in franchise cricket, had a reasonably good IPL 2024 campaigning personally with the unsuccessful Mumbai Indians and claimed 13 wickets in 11 games to be tied-Second highest wicket taker for MI in the tournament.
Chawla is a 2011 World Cup winner too and has played with and against Kohli in differentbowling all-rounders the roles areKI&S format and was asked who could possibly replace the Indian great.
Who’s Next
During the interaction with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Chawla came out openly and predict who according to him shall be ready and willing to take over the mantle of Kohli once the latter decides to retire from international cricket for India across all three formats.
“Shubman Gill. Because of the technique he possesses,” Chawla said bluntly without a second’s thought.
“You see, if a batter goes through a rough patch of form, it is usually his technique that comes into play and helps them get out of the rut. If you notice, any batter who has great technique will never undergo a bad run of form for too long,”
Gill and Gaikwad: The Duo
However, Chawla did not stop with picking just Gill. He also managed to sneak in yet another pick, as if almost reminding everyone as to why he was selected for the position in the first place.
“So, for me, Shubman Gill is up there for sure, along with Ruturaj Gaikwad,” stated Chawla.
Gaikwad was not far behind to make his T20I and ODI debut for India as well extending his performance from IPL. However, it has been more of a struggle for the CSK batter as he has not been a regular member of the Indian line up across the three formats and gets dogged by injury issues from time to time.
In the unluckily coupled-up behavioural plan of cricket however, as far as Chawla is concerned that’s simply the nature of the beast.
“See, that’s part of the game. It just comes with the package. And sometimes, it is unfortunate that when opportunities do arise, luck just does not follow the same,” Chawla reiterated.
“But regardless, for me, these two players shall take over the mantle after Virat Kohli.”