I was waiting for the Asia cup announcement...so Virat has been made the Vice-Captain. Now let me do some analysis (I agree too much of it can cause paralysis)
Present day scenario: Present captain Dhoni is almost 31 years...so he has roughly more 3-4 years of shelf life; after the next world cup i.e. 2015.
Gautam gambhir
Age: 30 years – Shelf life of another 4-5 years (not much)
ODI exp: 131 Matches
ODI Avg: 41
Test Exp: 48 matches
Test Avg: 45
Virat Kohli
Age: 23 years - Shelf Life of another 10-12 years
ODI exp: matches 82
ODI Avg: Average 42
Test Exp: 8 matches (Needs more experience)
Test Avg: 33
Considering the above two stats and the recent announcements:
Ø Gambhir from his temperament would surely be the next test captain, which would eventually be handed over to Virat and would take another 3- 4 years time. Yes, I expect Dhoni to relinquish his test captaincy soon.
Ø Gambhir might become the ODI captain for a short period of time (say 1-2 year), but Virat would eventually take over and would remain the captain for the longer duration. Intentions are very clear from the BCCI.
Ø Ashwin – Not leadership material at all.
