Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has picked the right candidate for the India Test captaincy, and it’s not Shubman Gill. Ashwin believes that Jasprit Bumrah, the pace leader, should be the one to lead the Indian Test team in the new era after several senior players retire.
Recently, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, leaving a big gap in the Indian team just before the England tour, where India will play five Test matches.
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Ravichandran Ashwin’s Pick for India Test Captaincy: Jasprit Bumrah
With Rohit Sharma retiring from Test cricket, Indian cricket now needs a new leader who can guide the team for the long term. Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Jasprit Bumrah is the right person to take on the captaincy. He also mentioned that the upcoming England Tests will mark the start of Gautam Gambhir’s era, with most of the senior players no longer in the squad.
“I didn’t have an idea both \[Rohit and Kohli] would retire together,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show ‘Ash Ki Baat’. “This will be a testing time for Indian cricket, and I’ll say this is truly now the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era.
“The team that will tour England will be a completely new team, a transformed team where Bumrah will probably be the senior-most player. He is obviously one of the captaincy options; I think he deserves the captaincy, but the selectors will take a decision based on his physical capacity.
“Their retirements will definitely create a leadership vacuum. You can’t buy experience, especially on tours like this. Virat’s energy and Rohit’s composure will be missed.”
Ashwin Discusses Kohli and Rohit’s Retirement Timing
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Ravichandran Ashwin also mentioned that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired at the wrong time. He felt that Kohli still had a couple of years left in him, while Rohit should have retired after the England tour. He said:
“There will be a sense of fulfilment, but I honestly feel Kohli definitely had one-two years of Test cricket left in him. Rohit, I felt would at least go on till the England Test series, because there’s a leadership vacuum in the team.
“Tests has been the finest \[format for India] in the last 10-12 years, but just for the sake of leadership, Rohit should’ve played till the England series, and if he’d performed, he could’ve carried on and given some more leadership.”
Ashwin’s Favorite Test Knocks Of Virat & Rohit
Ravichandran Ashwin also shared his favorite Test performance of Rohit Sharma, saying:
“My favourite piece of batsmanship of Rohit for India was when he played in England \[2021]. When he and KL Rahul opened, we were 2-1 ahead because of Rohit. The opening partnership was gun, strong. Between 2018-19 to 2022-23 was Rohit’s best phase as a Test batter.”
When talking about Virat Kohli, Ashwin named his twin centuries in Adelaide in 2014 as his favorite performance, along with a few other remarkable innings. He said:
“Some of his best knocks haven’t always resulted in wins, but that’s taking nothing away from those knocks. The twin hundreds in Adelaide in 2014 – that knock not finishing in a win is a shame. The 153 in Jo’burg, the pink-ball Test when we were all out for 36, the 74 he made in the first innings – some of the knocks are incredible.”
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