"I Do Not Want Jasprit Bumrah To Be Made Captain...": Ravi Shastri Blunt about His Two Picks For Test Captaincy

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri gave his take on India's ongoing Test captaincy vacuum following the retirement of seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, suggesting two youngsters who could be groomed going forward. Shastri discussed the candidates to take over the captaincy with host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review, urging selectors to prioritise the future and not burden India's pace maestro Jasprit Bumrah with captaincy. "See, for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia," Shastri said.

"But I do not want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler," he added as quoted by the ICC.

Bumrah has captained India in three matches so far, with their 295-run over Australia at Perth being a highlight. He has lost two of his other matches against England and Australia as captain, away from home.

He cited Bumrah's recent struggle with a back injury sustained in the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy match in Sydney. The 31-year-old was out of action for nearly three months from early January until April, also missing out on India's victorious ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.

"I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He is coming back now after a serious injury," Shastri noted.

"He will have played IPL cricket, which is four-over cricket. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs. And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well."

Rather than adding strain to India's pace-bowling spearhead, Shastri backed Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as potential prospects to take over the captaincy, with their age and longevity the key factors behind this choice.

"You groom somebody, and I would say Shubman's looked very