The Indian cricketing fraternity has been divided into multiple halves after Rohit Sharma announced his decision to retire from Test cricket. Since then, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah’s names have been heavily discussed among potential candidates to take over the leadership role. However, BCCI officials and the selectors are yet to name the next Test captain.
Amid that, the former India head coach Ravi Shastri noted that Bumrah shouldn’t take the burden of captaincy and instead should manage his workload accordingly. In the absence of Rohit, Bumrah led the side in Australia in the first and fifth Test. However, he couldn’t take the field in the second innings of the last match in Sydney due to a back injury. It created doubt whether the ace pacer can keep playing every Test match, given his history of fitness concerns.
Shastri spoke on the same lines, stating that the cricketer shouldn’t feel any pressure of captaincy when India tours England next month. He advocated for Gill and Pant to take over the leadership role.
“See for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don't want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler. I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He's coming back now after a serious injury. He'll have played IPL cricket, which is four-over cricket. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs (in Tests). And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well,” Shastri said on the latest episode of the ICC Review with Bumrah's wife, Sanjana Ganesan.
“You groom somebody and I would say Shubman's looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He's 25, 26 years of age, even give him time. There's Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I'm looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them.
So, let them learn. They've got experience as captains, now, captaining their (IPL) franchise and that makes a difference,” he added.
The selectors are expected to announce the captain and squad for the England series next week in a press conference.