THE CAPTAIN CONUNDRUM
Who leads India after Rohit’s retirement: Bumrah or Gill, or someone else!
During IPL, normally everything in the cricketing world takes a back seat. There was, however,
nothing normal about everything that transpired over the last week. India saw a war like
situation in the country, ultimately leading to the leagues’ suspension for a week. As if it was
not enough already, the news came out that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, two of India’s
biggest superstars retired from test cricket in a span of four days signalling the transition of the
Indian test team has well and truly begun.
The transition was always on the cards after two very bad series defeats, one in Australia where
India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 3-1 which saw India losing the BGT for the first
time in a decade, and the second one the 3-0 humiliation against New Zealand at home in what
was their first series defeat at home after 12 years. Something had to give, and three Indian
players retired during that period. Now the mantle of carrying the Indian team shifts to the next
generation who have very big shoes to fill.
Gautam Gambhir is in control of the Indian team and there are no two ways about that. He is
backed by the BCCI and now he won’t have to deal with two mega stars in the team. His first
job is to appoint the captain. Jasprit Bumrah is the current vice-captain and led India in
Australia when Rohit was not part of the team and did a very good job, winning the Perth Test.
So, he should ideally be the frontrunner for the captaincy but his injury concerns in the recent
times means putting extra pressure on your best bowler. The question will always be if Bumrah
will be able to play all the games? And if not, what are the other options?
There are effectively two possibilities. First, appoint Bumrah as the captain and have your vice-
captain stepping into the role when Bumrah is unavailable or injured as we have seen from
Australia where Pat Cummins is the captain and Steve Smith, his deputy, fills in when
Cummins is not fit or is unavailable for selection. And second, appoint someone who is a
certainty to play most of the games, ensuring consistency in leadership.
The options that India have are Shubman Gill, who is currently captaining Gujrat Titans in the
IPL. Gill’s team is at the top of the table right now and he has also been given the vice-captaincy
in the ODIs. He looks to be the frontrunner if India decides to not appoint Bumrah. But the
question is whether Gill has cemented his place in the Test team? Remember, he was dropped
for that fourth test in Australia and averages 35 with no score of note away from home.
Other options that India may look at are Rishabh Pant or Yashasvi Jaiswal. This looks highly
unlikely given Pant’s exploits in the IPL and his recent performances. Further, Jaiswal seems
to be too young and inexperienced for captaincy. Another possibility might be to appoint
Bumrah as the captain for the Test Series in England and see how it goes and take a call after
that.
Ideally, Bumrah should be asked if he wants the captaincy and unless he specifically denies, he
should be appointed the captain of Indian Test Team given he is the vice-captain currently and
done a very good job in the limited opportunity he has got to captain India. But who is to say
India won’t look for someone who will be a long-term investment and may as well appoint Gill
as the captain.
Author: Nikhil Kumar
