Rohit Sharma
The 3-match Test series between India and New Zealand is going to start from October 16. After this series, Team India will tour Australia to play Border Gavaskar Trophy. The first match of the series between India and Australia will be played in Perth from November 22. There is still more than a month left in this series but Team India is facing a big problem. Actually, such reports are coming out that Indian captain Rohit Sharma may have to miss one of the first two Test matches on the Australia tour.
According to the PTI report, Rohit has informed the BCCI that due to personal reasons he may have to miss one of the two Tests at the beginning of the series. There has been no vice-captain in Team India for some time. Recently, Team India, under the leadership of Rohit, had made a clean sweep of Bangladesh 2-0 in the 2-match Test series. There was no vice-captain in this series also. In such a situation, a big question arises that who will take charge of Team India in place of Rohit on the Australia tour.
Who between Gill and Bumrah?
Jasprit Bumrah and Shubman Gill are the frontrunners in the race to succeed Rohit. Bumrah has experience of captaining Team India. Returning from injury, he took command of the T20I team on the Ireland tour in 2023, while a year before this, in 2022, he was the captain of the team in a Test match played at Edgbaston on the England tour.
Before leading India in the Edgbaston Test, Bumrah was the vice-captain in the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka in March 2022. He also took the responsibility of vice-captain in the Test tour of South Africa in 2023-24 and then in the 5-match Test series against England earlier this year. In such a situation, Bumrah can be given the command of the team in the absence of Rohit during the Australia tour. However, workload management is a big challenge for Bumrah, which the team management would not like to ignore at all.
Will Pant get a chance?
Along with Bumrah, Shubman Gill is also involved in the race to succeed Rohit. The team management sees Gill as a strong contender for the future captain. This is the reason why in the last few years, Gill has commanded the team both abroad and at home. In July this year, Gill led India in the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe which they won 4-1. After this, Gill was appointed vice-captain in the limited overs home series against Sri Lanka. 25-year-old Gill has never captained in Test cricket, but the selectors are seeing this young player as a strong contender for the captaincy of Team India in the coming days.
Apart from Bumrah and Gill, Rishabh Pant is also considered a contender for captaincy. He is the captain of Delhi Capitals in IPL and his record in Australia is also excellent. However, he has just returned to Test cricket. In such a situation, the team management would not want to suddenly burden him with captaincy.
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