Jasprit Bumrah Snubbed As Report Names No. 1 Candidate To Replace Rohit Sharma As Test Skipper

Young batter Shubman Gill has emerged as the top contender to take Rohit Sharma's position as Test captain following the 38-year-old's retirement from the long-format, starting with the five-Test tour to England in June, reported ESPNCricinfo. Gill being named as Test captain looks inevitable, as it looks that Jasprit Bumrah, who led India in two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and picked up a record-breaking 32 wickets in five Tests, is likely to miss some Tests during the upcoming cycle for his workload management and preventing injuries, as per ESPNCricinfo.

The squad is expected to be picked during a meeting of the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel later this month, ahead of the first Test from June 20 at Headingley. With the series kicking off a fresh WTC cycle for years 2025-27, selectors want a captain who could be a long-term option, with Gill having age by his side, being 25 years old.

The question of Rohit's successor came up even before he announced his retirement from the format as he was struggling with form over the last few months. His form deteriorated during the Test season 2024-25, scoring 164 runs in eight Tests and 15 innings spanning from the home Bangladesh series to away Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with just one fifty. He also became the captain who lost India's first-ever Test series at home against NZ last year by 3-0 and was also captain for the majority of the Australia series, which India lost 3-1, which contributed to India's exit from WTC final contention.

Bumrah is the designated vice-captain and led the team in two Tests of BGT, when Rohit was away during the first Test at Perth due to the birth of his child and in the final Test when the 'Hitman' opted out due to poor form.

But Bumrah's