Top News

Team India is scheduled to tour England in June for a crucial five-match Test series. With Rohit Sharma recently announcing his retirement from Test cricket, a major question has emerged: Who will lead the team in the longest format?

Bumrah, Gill or KL Rahul?

While Shubman Gill is being considered a strong candidate to take over the captaincy, former India selector MSK Prasad has voiced his support for Jasprit Bumrah. However, there are concerns over Bumrah's ability to play all five Tests due to his injury history.

Speaking to India Today, Prasad said, "Why not Bumrah? He's fit now. You currently have three captaincy options: Bumrah, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul. If you're looking ahead at the current and next World Test Championship cycles, there's no issue in backing Bumrah. He has done well whenever he's been given leadership responsibilities."

Jasprit Bumrah has previously captained India in two Test matches during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy - the first and the fifth - where India won one and lost one.

Despite his leadership promise, reports suggest that selectors may not name Bumrah even as vice-captain for the England series due to his workload concerns. He may also be unavailable for all five matches, which complicates his chances of leading the team.

Team India's predicted squad for England tour after Rohit Sharma's retirement: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (captain / batter), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (vice captain), Sai Sudarshan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah (captain / vice-captain), Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav.

There are reports saying that Virat Kohli, days after Rohit announced Test retirement, also wants to call it quits in the longest format. However, BCCI requested him to keep playing at least till the England tour gets over.