Who will be India's next Test captain after Rohit Sharma? Two candidates emerge but neither convincing enough
Jasprit Bumrah and Shubman Gill are the two obvious choices to replace Rohit Sharma but there's a problem.
Now that Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket, Indian cricket finds itself in a fix. The hunt for a new captain has never been trickier for the BCCI and its selection committee. Sourav Ganguly had a solid deputy in Rahul Dravid. MS Dhoni had a glowing successor ready in Virat Kohli. But the buck stopped there. When Rohit took over the captaincy of the Indian cricket team, he was 33. It was a well-known fact his tenure as captain wouldn't last as long as Dhoni or Kohli. Still, he remained in charge for almost four years. Not bad.
However, with him gone. Team India has a huge void to fill, mostly because it has to find its next captain. About six months ago, Jasprit Bumrah was just waiting to be crowned India's next Test skipper, but that possibility can now be chucked out the window for good. With Bumrah out of action for almost 4 months with a stress fracture in his back, India can't have a captain with a tendency to break down. So yeah, fold Bumrah's captaincy ambitions in a piece of satin and let it out to dry.
The other contender, an obvious one, is Shubman Gill. The 25-year-old is young, promising and has a long career ahead. In fact, if BCCI's indications over the last year are anything to go by, they have been nurturing Gill to take over the biggest post in Indian cricket. He has led Gujarat Titans brilliantly this IPL 2025, and their standing at the top of the table is a testament to his leadership. His players love his style, and assistant coach Ashish Nehra simply can't keep calm about Gill.
Also Read: Why Rohit Sharma decided to retire from Test cricket this close to India's tour of England
However, where Gill faces his sternest challenge is batting abroad. While the batter has regularly stamped his mettle playing at home, it’s his numbers abroad that cut a sorry figure. With 1893 runs from 32 Tests, Gill’s numbers playing Tests in India may not be gigantic by any stretch of the imagination, but his average of 35 and five centuries suggest he is in it for the long haul. However, his away numbers – 649 runs from 13 Tests, is where Gill’s contendership could take a hit. His only hundred away from home – 110 – came against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
He has only two fifties overseas – against Australia during the famous 2021 tour. His innings of 91 at the Gabba and 50 in Melbourne marked Gill's arrival in Test cricket, but over time, he has faded, with his vulnerabilities against the swinging delivery exposing the technical aspect of his batting. The upcoming tour of England, where he will now be one of the senior figures in the batting order, promises to be a pivotal series for Gill.
Back to Bumrah
Bumrah's inability to play all five Tests in England is itself a huge factor in him slipping down the captaincy radar. And rightly so. Bumrah has captained India in three Tests – winning one and losing two. He first took over from Rohit when the former India captain was injured and India had to take on England in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston. Bumrah enjoyed a special time in that match, as he recorded the most runs scored in an over of Test cricket – 35 off Stuart Broad – but it was overshadowed by England winning the levelling the series 2-2.
He then captained in Perth and shone through as India crushed Australia by 295 runs. With Rohit then dropping himself in Sydney, Bumrah was back as the leader in the fifth and final Test. But in a major blow to all Indian cricket fans, Bumrah broke his back – literally – and with that, his dreams of becoming India's full-time captain.
