ENG vs IND 2025: No clear choice for India's Test captaincy yet as selectors unsure of Gill, dicey over Bumrah - Report

What is the latest on India’s Test captaincy front? Have the selectors and the coach decided on Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s replacement, or are they contemplating picking ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah as the new red-ball leader? Nothing seems to have been finalised yet.

Before it all came crashing down for India’s Test Team following the BGT Down Under, premier quick Bumrah was to succeed Rohit in Tests. He had led the side in two matches against Australia, in Perth and Sydney, where Rohit remained absent for different reasons. Although India won the series opener at the Optus Stadium, their only win on the tour, Bumrah had to leave the final Test at the SCG due to a back issue, with them losing it inside three days.

Bumrah's fitness has been the management’s ultimate worry, having already lost him for close to eight to ten months earlier. Even though India has found success in his absence, with the 2025 Champions Trophy triumph being the latest instance, they would need Bumrah on the England tour, especially after India’s Test batting lost its two jewels in Rohit and Virat Kohli to Test retirements.

Also, considering the consensus that Bumrah must not play more than two Tests on the trot, the BCCI could find it tough to replace him with someone as the Test captain for just one game and then return to Bumrah whenever he returns. Avoiding such complications would be on the agenda when head coach Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee sit to pick the squad for the England Tests.

Per several reports, the BCCI selectors would unveil the new Test captain on May 23, probably announcing the Test squad alongside.

Why no Gill then?

If not Jasprit Bumrah, then why not Shubman Gill? What is stopping the BCCI selectors from picking the captain for the future?

It’s because Gill has yet to crack the overseas Test code.

India’s top-order batter moved places since the away West Indies’ Tests last year, dropping to number three. Although he has been a fantastic ODI batter since his debut, scoring runs for fun in all conditions, Gill has been a pale shadow of that in Tests, averaging just over 35 in 32 matches.

With India coming into this series on the back of two successive losses against New Zealand and Australia, conceding another Test series would be a disaster; also, knowing the selectors have a task at hand to pick a new-look batting order, burdening Gill with added responsibility would do no good.

Besides, barring these two, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are the remaining options India has.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen who the selectors pick as India’s next Test captain.