Ever since Rohit Sharma hung up his boots in the longest format of cricket, there has been a raging debate in the cricketing circles over who could lead the country next in the whites.
Two names that have been leading the charts so far are veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah and young batter Shubman Gill.
However, former India coach Sanjay Bangar believes that Bumrah will likely miss out on captaining India in Tests due to the yardstick set by Ajit Agarkar while making Suryakumar Yadav the T20I captain.
“The yardstick that was taken for Hardik Pandya when Suryakumar was named T20I captain…the reasoning there was that Hardik has fitness issues; he may not be available. Hence, we are looking at a player who is guaranteed a place in the playing XI. That’s how Surya was elevated to the T20I captaincy. Now, if we equate that thought process with Test captaincy as well, on that basis, Jasprit may have to miss out.” Bangar was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.
Notably, Chairman of India Men’s selection committee, Ajit Agarkar had earlier snubbed Hardik Pandya as the T20I captain while calling into question the all-rounder’s fitness.
Shubman Gill long-term prospect but pick KL Rahul, says Bangar:
Meanwhile, Bangar urged the BCCI not to rush Shubman Gill as the next India captain and instead give the duty to KL Rahul, who has proven himself as a batter.
“He’s been a proven test battle, a lot of important runs at the top of the order for India. So he would play all the Test matches, and most of his hundreds or big scores have come in overseas matches. So there is no question mark on his ability in any conditions, for that matter. And he is young, he is not that old either. So when you are looking at a WTC cycle, it is a two-year cycle. I think Rahul at the moment is 31, 32. He can clearly play the entire cycle,” Bangar said.
“You would be mistaken if you were thinking really long term. Gill’s quite young. He’s got loads of cricket ahead of him, and he would also have attained that self-belief in his ability by doing well overseas… He’s your long-term prospect, no doubt. But whether you want to elevate him immediately, I don’t really think that there is a reason to do that because you have KL Rahul.” Bangar further added.