After 93 days, Jasprit Bumrah returned to competitive cricket in MI vs RCB IPL 2025 clash. That’s good news for all cricket fans, especially for India, with the England Test series just around the corner. However, it is not good news for India’s Test captain Rohit Sharma. His struggles with the bat in the Test and also in IPL 2025 have opened the door for discussions on Test captaincy succession. Had Bumrah not been fit for the England tour, Rohit would have continued.
But now, the BCCI Selection Committee has a call to make. Would they prefer an out-of-form Rohit Sharma who abandoned the ship in Sydney? Or hand over the captaincy reins to Bumrah, who single-handedly carried the team on his shoulders in Australia. The choice is not that easy, though.
“It is for the selectors to decide. Bumrah led in Australia in two matches with distinction. He is already in the leadership group, and it won’t be a transition as such,” a BCCI official told InsideSport.
Is there a place for Rohit Sharma in Test?
The answer is not easy. As the captain, Rohit Sharma is still valuable, especially after leading India to consecutive ICC titles, including the T20 World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy. However, the batter Rohit is nowhere close to making the Test team.
After a dreadful Australia tour, where he averaged 6.20 in five innings, he scored 3 and 28 in the only Ranji Trophy match he played for Mumbai. Before the Australia tour, Rohit averaged 10.50 in four innings against Bangladesh and 15.16 in six innings against New Zealand, both at home. Overall, Rohit managed just 164 runs in 15 innings at an average of 10.93 in the red ball season.
While he pulled through the ODIs, scoring 302 runs in eight innings at an average of 37.75, including a century and a fifty, he once again hit rock bottom in T20s. In IPL 2025, he has scores of 0, 8, 13 and 17 in four innings.
Rohit Sharma in 2024-25 red-ball season
| Series | Inns | Runs | Avg | 50/100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs Bangladesh | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 0/0 |
| vs New Zealand | 6 | 91 | 15.15 | 1/0 |
| vs Australia | 5 | 31 | 6.2 | 0/0 |
| Ranji Trophy | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 0/0 |
| Overall | 17 | 195 | 11.47 | 1/0 |
With no other matches apart from IPL to base selection on, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee could find it difficult to justify his selection. And if he goes to England, he boards the plane as the captain. If he is not the captain, it is almost impossible for him to make the team, based on current performances.
“Every player goes through such periods. Even Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul (Dravid), and Dada (Sourav Ganguly) had hit a rough patch. Great players always pull through. Rohit is just a knock away from hitting good form. Ajit and his team will talk to Rohit during IPL to share their plans and understand his. We must be patient with the process. Don’t forget, Rohit won us two ICC titles in a year,” the BCCI official said.
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Jasprit Bumrah, the captain-elect
That’s where Bumrah’s return from injury could spell doom for Rohit. Had Bumrah been injured, Rohit would have been a certainty to make the squad for the England series. However, if Bumrah is fit, he is likely to be the captain. While nobody in the BCCI wants to confirm or deny the rumours on the Test captaincy change, time is running out for Rohit.
The selection committee will pick the squad for the IND vs ENG Test series in May. Whether Rohit returns to form by then is a million-dollar question. However, if he doesn’t, it could be end of Rohit’s captaincy reins and most likely in Test cricket too.
Bumrah, still not the best leader considering he will need workload management, will lead India at least in England. Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are waiting in the wings to take charge. It could be a spell of shared captaincy for sometime until Gill or Pant is ready to take the next lead through consistent performances in Tests.
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