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Who Should Captain India In Test Series Against England? Ravi Shastri Answers

Bhargav Dixit

Ravi Shastri shortlists candidates to lead India. [Source: @ImHydro45 & @Iamcharuu10/X]Ravi Shastri shortlists candidates to lead India. [Source: @ImHydro45 & @Iamcharuu10/X]

Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri is clear in his mind with regard to Rohit Sharma’s replacement as Test captain. The 62-year-old has backed someone whose stature snowballed under his tenures as the Indian head coach.

However, as much as Shastri wants pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has led India twice in Test cricket, to be handed over the reins, he sounded practical enough to understand that he wouldn’t be able to play all Test matches. With Bumrah injuring his back post a successful but gruelling Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, the need to manage him has grown all the more.

“See for me, Jasprit [Bumrah] would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don’t want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler,” Shastri told Bumrah’s wife, Sanjana Ganesan, on the latest episode of The ICC Review.

Upon returning from an injury, Bumrah has picked 13 wickets at an average of 16.46, an economy rate of 6.68 and a strike rate of 14.76 across eight Indian Premier League 2025 matches for Mumbai Indians. That said, his workload would still have to be monitored during India’s tour of England next month.

Ravi Shastri Wants India To Groom A Young Captain

Keeping a long-term view in mind, Shastri hoped for one out of Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant to be promoted to captaincy in the ancestral format. As per Shastri, the team management should allow a youngster like Gill or Pant to learn on the job.

“You groom somebody and I would say Shubman’s [Gill] looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He's 25-26 [25] years of age, even give him time. There's Rishabh [Pant] as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I'm looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them. So, let them learn,” Shastri added.

Shastri also highlighted “calm” and “composed” attributes of Gill’s captaincy in the IPL. Furthermore, the right-handed batter’s lack of runs in overseas Tests doesn’t bother his former coach. As someone who trusts Gill to represent India throughout the next decade, Shastri believes he’d make up for limited success on overseas tours thus far.