Gill and Rishabh Pant are now the front-runners after Bumrah decided to withdraw from the race due to workload concerns, according to a Sky Sports report.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is searching for a new captain for the game’s longest format after Rohit Sharma declared his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday, May 7.
Shubman Gill is the front-runner, according to a number of reports, while KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah were also rumoured to be in the running.
It is known that Bumrah, the front-runner to succeed Rohit Sharma as captain, is reluctant to commit to playing all five Test matches in a series because of his workload. According to the source, “selectors would prefer a captain who can consistently feature across a whole series, and he is unlikely to feature in all five Test matches against England.”
KL Rahul is not a candidate to lead the Test team.
KL Rahul, meanwhile, is not vying for the esteemed position. Since making his debut for his country in 2014, the Karnataka batsman has participated in 58 Test matches, 85 ODIs, and 72 T20Is. In addition, he has led India in three Test matches, twelve One-Day Internationals, and one Twenty20 International. India won two and lost one of the three Test matches he captained.
However, a recent report claims that Rahul’s age (33) and inconsistency are the main reasons he is not being considered for the position of India’s red-ball captain.
The report stated that although KL Rahul was one of Australia’s top players, it is known that he is not being evaluated as a possibility because he is already over 33 and has struggled with consistency.
Rahul was among India’s finest players in the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In five games, he amassed 276 runs, including two fifties.
The next task for India is to play England in a five-match Test series in the UK. Leeds will host the first Test match on June 20. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are anticipated to open the batting. In English conditions, the right-handed batter has a respectable record.
Rahul has amassed 614 runs at an average of 34.11 in nine Test matches. Two hundred and one fifty is his total score. He scored 149 runs off 224 deliveries in the fourth innings of the Test match at The Oval in September 2018, which was his greatest score in the European country. As India looks to make amends in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Rahul would be hoping for more blows of this nature.
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