The Indian men’s team created history by winning the T20 World Cup 2024 after taking down South Africa in the final. Despite a poor start with the bat, Virat Kohli stood up when it mattered the most and scored a vital 76 to help post a total of 176 and then win the trophy. After this Player of Match award-winning performance, Kohli announced retirement from T20Is.
With one of Indian cricket’s best calling it quits from the shortest format, here are some names poised to fill Virat Kohli’s shoes.
3 Players who can replace Virat Kohli in T20Is
Shubman Gill
Dubbed as the Prince of Indian cricket, Shubman Gill has been deemed as the Virat Kohli successor since his international debut. The 24-year-old has emerged as one of the best all-format players in the world and scored 335 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 147.16 and a highest score of 126. Further, Gill and Kohli have a similar batting approach and could seamlessly replace the King in the Indian T20I team.
Shreyas Iyer
As the Indian captain Rohit Sharma also retired from T20I alongside Virat Kohli, the Indian team management could put together a new opening pair moving forward. This makes way for Shreyas Iyer, who could be India’s number three and replace Kohli on the T20I squad. Iyer has performed well for the Men in Blue and excelled at number 3 for his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, making the transition easy for the Indian team.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
The third name on the list is Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad , who has consistently proved his worth in every little opportunity he received in the Indian team. Gaikwad in 19 T20Is has 500 runs at an average of 35.71 and a strike rate of 140.05 while scoring one century and three 50s. Technically speaking, Gaikwad is very similar to Virat Kohli and could replace the Indian great in the national T20I set-up.