The Indian Test team is going through a transition period with a no. of veteran players over thirty years old. At such an important point, it remains to be seen who becomes India’s next Test captain after Rohit Sharma.
Currently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are believed to be the candidates for this position. While Kohli has led India in the past, Bumrah is currently the team’s vice-captain. Cricket greats like Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan. shared their opinions on this topic.
While Gilchrist backed Kohli to captain India again, Vaughan had different views and asked for Bumrah to take up the role of India’s Test captaincy. However, Rohit Sharma is yet to abandon the format and remains India’s official Test captain.
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Adam Gilchrist backs Virat Kohli as India’s next Test captain
While speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, Adam Gilchrist expressed his doubts over Jasprit Bumrah’s injury concerns and feels that Kohli would be better suited for this role. Bumrah has a history of injuries and his unavailability can affect India in crucial match situations.
“I don’t know if (Jasprit) Bumrah should be the full-time captain. I think that might be a bit challenging for him. So who will be the next captain is anyone’s guess, actually, whether they will go back to Virat. (Kohli). “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t mind doing it,” Gilchrist said.
Jasprit Bumrah took over as India captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who quit the fifth Test in Sydney due to poor form. However, Bumrah had to leave the field midway after suffering back spasms.
Virat Kohli led India in the absence of Bumrah in the second innings of the match. The Men in Blue missed their main fast bowler and eventually lost the match by 6 wickets in the end to concede the series 1-3 to the hosts.
Michael Vaughan endorses Jasprit Bumrah
While Adam Gilchrist backed Virat Kohli, Michael Vaughan believes India should name Jasprit Bumrah as the next Test captain. According to Vaughan, India were at their best under Bumrah in the Perth Test and even claimed that they would have won if Bumrah had been available in the last innings in Sydney.
“I would give the captain’s job to Jasprit Bumrah, and the reason is that the two performances where India had their best moment in Australia were Perth (first Test) and SCG (fifth Test). And if he hadn’t gotten injured (in Sydney ), I honestly think they would have won that game,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan also asked India to groom Shubman Gill as India’s vice-captain so that he could prepare for the leadership role. However, Gill’s performances in red-ball cricket have declined in recent years.
Virat Kohli’s record as India Test captain
Virat Kohli is India’s most successful Test captain and has led the team in 40 of 68 matches. India’s winning percentage under his leadership is an impressive 58.82%. Under his captaincy, India won the historic Test series against Australia in 2018 and became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia.
However, he handed over the leadership position in January 2022 to Rohit Sharma. Kohli has been going through a rough patch recently in Tests. He scored just 190 runs in five Tests at an average of just 23.75 in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India will now play a Test match after a long gap in the months of June and July 2025, when they travel to England as their first assignment of the next WTC cycle. The debate between Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah could continue until then.