Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has backed Rishabh Pant to succeed Rohit Sharma as captain in Test matches. Pant has performed consistently in the red-ball format and has played some match-winning knocks for the team.

The left-hander made his return to Test cricket after a long hiatus of 629 days and he was able to hit the ground running against Bangladesh in the opening Test at Chennai. The southpaw returned with scores of 39 and 109 in the first Test and added 167 runs with Shubman Gill in the second essay.

Pant has the experience of leading Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League but he is yet to lead the national team in any format. 

Danish Kaneria said in an interview with IANS, “Rishabh Pant can lead India in Tests in future. He has that calibre. Indian cricket is going great guns.”

While the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel recently named Shubman Gill as the vice-captain in the white-ball formats, Jasprit Bumrah is Rohit’s deputy in the multi-day form.

Agarkar had earlier said, “Shubman is the guy we feel again as he is a three-format player firstly, and he has shown quality over the last year or so.”

Earlier, former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra had also backed Rishabh Pant for the Test captaincy role.

Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “I am talking about extremely long-term, it could be Shubman Gill. I am not talking about now, I am talking about the distant future. It could be Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant as a Test cricketer is 24-carat gold.”

“So, he could also be the one. He is a game-changer. So I will look towards one of these two once Rohit says he is done with Test cricket and that you can appoint someone else as the skipper,” Chopra added.

The second Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played at Green Park, Kanpur from September 27.