Aakash Chopra Snubs KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah To Pick Contenders To Replace Rohit Sharma As Test Skipper

The Indian Team selectors recently named a 16-member Indian squad, with Rohit Sharma as the leader for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa.

While Shubman Gill is part of the squad, Rishabh Pant wasn’t considered as he has not yet fully recovered from the injuries that he sustained in a horrific car accident last year.

Aakash Chopra was asked about his opinion on India’s next Test captain after Rohit, to which he replied, “I am talking about extremely long-term, it could be Shubman Gill. I am not talking about now, I am talking about the distant future. It could be Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant as a Test cricketer is 24-carat gold.”

Aakash Chopra added, “So he could also be the one. He is a game-changer. So I will look towards one of these two once Rohit says he is done with Test cricket and that you can appoint someone else as the skipper.”

Shubman Gill has never captained India in any format but he will be leading the Gujarat Titans in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Rishabh Pant has led the Men in Blue in five T20Is but has never captained the test side.

KL Rahul And Jasprit Bumrah Can Be Short-term Option For Replacing Rohit Sharma As India’s Test Skipper

However, talking about the short-term, a better option for leading India in the longest format after Rohit Sharma will be KL Rahul. KL Rahul has led India in Bangladesh and South Africa and has good leadership skills. Jasprit Bumrah can also be seen as a choice for captaining the test side after Rohit Sharma. Bumrah has led India in Test and T20Is.

Rohit Sharma led India to the finals of the World Test Championship in 2023. He took over the test captaincy from Virat Kohli in 2022 and has led the Indian team to victory against New Zealand, and Sri Lanka and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

However, Rohit Sharma can’t be seen as a long-term captain in the red-ball format given his age. The Indian skipper is currently 36-year-old and the Indian team management will have to think about the future of the Indian test side. KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah look good for immediate replacement given the experience they have but if the management looks for a long-term captain then they have to choose from the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill.