Shubman Gill kicked aside! Ravichandran Ashwin names deserving candidate for India Test captaincy

Former India National Cricket Team off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has named the deserving candidate for India Test captaincy, and it's not Shubman Gill.

Ravichandran Ashwin said that the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah should be the guy to lead the Indian Test team in the new era after the retirement of several seniors.

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Virat's energy and Rohit's composure will be missed - Ravichandran Ashwin

Recently, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, leaving a big gap in the Indian team ahead of the England tour, where the Men In Blue would play five Test matches.

With Rohit Sharma walking away from Test cricket, Indian cricket is in desperate need of a new leader who can guide the team from the front for years to come.

And according to Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah is the right man for India captaincy. He also opined that the upcoming England Tests will be the official start of Gautam Gambhir's era, with most of the seniors gone from 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 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."

I honestly feely Kohli definitely had one-two years of Test cricket left in him - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin further said that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired at the wrong time. He opined that Kohli had a couple more years left in him, while Rohit should've said goodbye to the format after the England tour. He said:

"There will be a sense of fulfilment, but I honestly feely 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."

My favourite piece of batsmanship of Rohit for India was when he played in England - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin further revealed his favorite performance of Rohit Sharma in Test cricket and said:

"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."

While talking about Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin named his twin tons in Adelaide in 2014 as his favorite performance, along with some other knocks. 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."