Sunil Gavaskar has backed Rohit Sharma to be India’s captain for the next two World Cups, including the delayed T20 World Cup next month.

Regular Indian captain Virat Kohli announced that he would step down from T20 captaincy after the World Cup and Rohit Sharma is set to take over as vice captain. But Gavaskar said that since the 2022 T20 World Cup is just after a gap of one year, consistency in captaincy will help India.

“I think Rohit Sharma for the next two World Cups. You could say they [World Cups] are back-to-back, one starting in a month and another exactly a year from now. So clearly, yes, you don’t want to change too many captains at this particular stage,” the Indian batting great was quoted as saying the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

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“Rohit Sharma would definitely be my choice for captaincy of the Indian team for both these T20 World Cups,” he added.

For the role of deputy, Gavaskar once again backed KL Rahul and also threw in Rishabh Pant’s name in the mix. Both the wicketkeeper-batters lead their respective Indian Premier League teams, the Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals. Rohit leads Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

“I’m looking at KL Rahul for vice-captain. I would also keep Rishabh Pant in mind because he has been really impressive in the way he has led a star-studded Delhi team and the bowling changes that he has been making in the T20 format, using Nortje and Rabada in such a clever manner that actually shows a street-smart captain, and you always want a street-smart captain who can read situations and act immediately,” he explained.

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Gavaskar, in the past as well, has said that KL Rahul is captaincy material and should be groomed as a future leader.

Earlier this month, Kohli announced that he will be stepping down as India captain after the T20 World Cup in UAE. But will continue to lead the side in ODIs and Test cricket, a decision that paves the way for Rohit Sharma to captain in the shortest format.