The captaincy conundrum continues for the India Cricket Team ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. And the 3-0 whitewash to New Zealand in the latest Test series has made conditions even worse. Rohit Sharma is expected to miss the first IND vs AUS Test for personal reasons, thereby exposing the dearth of proper captain options in red-ball cricket.
Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the side’s vice-captain, but his captaincy record isn’t too good either. On the other hand, the other options of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant too aren’t up to the mark.
Who can be India’s next Test captain?
Apart from Rohit Sharma, the rest of the players haven’t captained Team India in red-ball cricket, save Jasprit Bumrah. The ace pacer captained India only once in IND vs ENG 5th Test at Edgbaston way back in 2022. As for the likes of young Gill and Pant, the ace duo have never led the side in the red ball format.
While Shubman Gill is now the vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is, he is still very young to lead the team in red ball cricket. The same can be said about Rishabh Pant as well, who has made a return to competitive cricket this season. Among the seniors, the only player who can make a good captain is KL Rahul, but the batter finds himself on the bench after a string of poor performances.
And selecting a captain before the Border Gavaskar Trophy should be the least of the concerns for India. With the team losing a humiliating 3-0 loss to the Kiwis on home soil, the focus of the team will be to make a complete turnaround. India now needs a 4-0 win against Australia to reach the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) Standings.
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