Virat Kohli handed India's Test captaincy after Australia horror; Next WTC Cycle fixed!!

India's Test team is going through a period of transition with a no. of senior players in their high thirties. At such an important point, it remains to be seen who becomes India's next Test captain after Rohit Sharma.

Currently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are believed to be the candidates for this role. While Kohli has already led India in the past, Bumrah is the team's vice-captain currently. Cricketing greats like Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan. shared their opinions on this topic.

While Gilchrist backed Kohli to become India's captain again, Vaughan had different views and called for Bumrah to take over the role for India's Test captaincy. However, Rohit Sharma is yet to quit the format and is still India's official Test captain.

Also read: Virat Kohli's retirement threat sent to BCCI and Indian Cricket in Australia

Adam Gilchrist backs Virat Kohli for India's next Test captain

While speaking on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast, Adam Gilchrist expressed his doubts over Jasprit Bumrah's injury concerns and feels that Kohli would be more suitable for this role. Bumrah has a history of injuries and his unavailability can affect India in crucial match situations.

"I don't know whether (Jasprit) Bumrah should be full-time captain. I reckon that might get a little bit challenging for him. So, who that next captain may be is anyone's guess, really, whether they go back to Virat (Kohli). I wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't mind doing it," Gilchrist said.

Jasprit Bumrah stepped in as India's captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who dropped himself for the fifth Test in Sydney due to poor form. However, Bumrah had to leave the field midway after suffering back spasms.

Virat Kohli led India in Bumrah's absence in the second innings of the match. The Men in Blue missed their premier fast bowler and eventually lost the match by 6 wickets in the end to concede the series 1-3 to the hosts.

Michael Vaughan backs Jasprit Bumrah

While Adam Gilchrist backed Virat Kohli, Michael Vaughan feels that India must appoint Jasprit Bumrah as the next Test captain. According to Vaughan, India were at its best under Bumrah in the Perth Test and even claimed that they would have won had Bumrah been available in the last innings at Sydney.

"I would give the captain seat to Jasprit Bumrah, and the reason is the two performances that India were at their finest in Australia were Perth (first Test) and the SCG (fifth Test). And if he had not been injured (in Sydney), I honestly think they would have won that game," Vaughan noted.

Vaughan also called India to groom Shubman Gill as India's vice-captain so that he could be groomed for the leadership role. However, Gill's performances in red-ball cricket have gone downwards over the last few years.

Virat Kohli's record as India's Test captain

Virat Kohli is India's most successful Test captain having led the team in 40 out of 68 matches. India's win percentage under his leadership is an impressive 58.82%. Under his captaincy, India won the historic Test series against Australia in 2018 and became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia.

However, he gave up the leadership role in January 2022 to Rohit Sharma. Kohli has been going through a bad patch of form recently in Tests. He scored just 190 runs in five Tests at an average of just 23.75 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

India will now play a Test match after a long gap in the months of June and July 2025 when they travel to England as their 1st assignment of the next WTC cycle. The Virat Kohli vs Jasprit Bumrah debate might go on until then.