Jasprit Burmah named India's full time captain in place of Rohit Sharma for India vs Australia Tests

Legendary India opener Sunil Gavaskar recently stated that Rohit Sharma should not be India's captain for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that a player should not be made a captain if he is not available from the start.

Gavaskar's suggestion has found backing from the former India opener Aakash Chopra, who claimed that he is 'not wrong' in this aspect. Rohit Sharma is likely to miss a Test during the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia due to personal reasons.

While it is not yet confirmed which match he will miss out on, it is possible that Rohit Sharma might not be available for the start of the series and could miss the first Test of the series at Perth.

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Aakash Chopra backs Sunil Gavaskar's suggestion to appoint Jasprit Bumrah for Rohit Sharma as India's captain

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra backed Sunil Gavaskar's suggestion and wants Jasprit Bumrah to be India's captain for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

According to him, it's not good to start a big series without the captain and Rohit Sharma should play as a player whenever he is available.

"Since we don't know when Rohit Sharma will be traveling as it's because of personal reasons, Sunny bhai (Sunil Gavaskar) believes that if the captain is not available at the start, he shouldn't be the captain at all. So the vice-captain you have appointed should be made the captain," Aakash Chopra opined.

"Once the captain goes, he should play as a player because it's wrong to start a big series without the captain. What he said is not wrong. This has a lot of merit. he added.

"I can understand what the selection committee is trying to do" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra further mentioned that it is not confirmed whether Rohit Sharma will be available for the series or not and also claimed that he might not be available for the series at all.

"It's not even confirmed whether he is reaching there or not. So when you look at it from that vantage point, that we don't know whether he will reach or not, he might not be available throughout the series. I can understand what the selection committee is trying to do," Aakash Chopra noted.

Rohit Sharma is India's captain for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and is also a key player in the team. However, his recent performances as captain and as a batter have not been great. The Indian captain will be under high pressure to prove himself in the upcoming Test series.

A similar scenario during the last Australia tour

Aakash Chopra remembers a similar scenario that happened during the last tour as well when Virat Kohli left the series after the first Test. India lost the first Test but went on to win the series later under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, who was India's designated vice-captain.

"It has happened once, Virat Kohli captained the first match and wasn't available for the next three matches. It was known beforehand itself. He played the first match and left, and Ajinkya Rahane captained after that," Aakash Chopra said.

"India lost the first match, they were all out for 36, but after that, they won in Melbourne, drew in Sydney, and broke Gabba's pride. So it's not that it's happening for the first time that the captain isn't available for the entire series. Virat has done that earlier and Rohit is not reaching there," he noted.

During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, Virat Kohli became unavailable after the first Test in Adelaide due to the birth of his child. Ajinkya Rahane stepped in Kohli's absence and did brilliantly to lead India to two wins in the next three Tests as India won a historic series 2-1.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will comprise of five Tests on this occasion as opposed to four Tests earlier. Both India and Australia will be under pressure to win to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final next year.