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Follow UsTwo Tests vs Bangladesh, three vs New Zealand and five vs Australia - the next few months are going to be extremely busy for Rohit Sharma and his men. India are scheduled to play 10 Tests in the space of four months. If everything goes India's way, there’s also the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s in June 2025, which could also prove to be Rohit’s last Test.
The Indian Test captain will be 38 by the time India are done with the WTC final and it’s highly unlikely he will endure the entire next cycle. Rohit, who has already retired from the T20Is, could still feature in the subsequent five-match Test series against England in June-July, but anything post that looks extremely difficult.
India have given the T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav, but it’s really difficult to predict Rohit’s ODI future. There’s the Champions Trophy in the first half of 2025 and if he manages to keep his fitness, the right-handed batter could even survive till the 2027 ODI World Cup. And that’s a big if. But one thing is almost certain, Rohit’s Test career is not going beyond 2025.
If that happens, India will have to start looking for the next Test captain. Here are some of the candidates who could replace Rohit as India’s Test skipper:
The 25-year-old is the favourite to take over the captaincy from Rohit. Gill was asked to captain India A, which also had KL Rahul, in the first round of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024, hinting he is being looked at as a future leader. Gill even captained India in the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup 2024. He was also India’s vice-captain in the T20I and ODI series in Sri Lanka.
The Punjab batter didn’t have a great start to his Test career but in the last series against England, Gill slammed 452 runs across nine innings at an average of 56.5. He has now moved to No.3 and if he can keep his form going with the bat and become a regular member of the Test set-up, Gill could very well succeed Rohit as India’s next red-ball captain.
Having successfully made his way back into both the T20 and 50-over cricket, Pant made his return to red-ball cricket in the first round of the Duleep Trophy. The left-hander got out for 7 in the first innings but slammed 61 off 47 in the second innings. In the process, he smashed the fastest fifty in Duleep Trophy 2024.
The wicketkeeper-batter captained India in five T20Is against South Africa in 2022. However, in Test cricket, he has achieved a lot more success with the bat. Pant has been one of India’s best red-ball batters in the last few years and has a guaranteed place in the XI. In terms of numbers and availability, Pant is India’s best bet when it comes to Test captaincy.
One of the greatest players to have played for India, Bumrah has been very outspoken about his desire to captain India. The ace paceman led India in one Test in England in 2022 before doing the same in the T20I series against Ireland in 2023.
Bumrah is known to be an astute thinker of the game and it’s pretty evident even when he is operating with the ball. He was India’s vice-captain during the series against England earlier this year but hasn’t been given the same position for the opening Test against Bangladesh. He will still remain the leader of the bowling attack.
The only reason why Bumrah can’t be India’s permanent Test captain is because of his workload management. That was the key reason why Suryakumar was named the T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya. India can’t have Bumrah playing all Tests, especially at home, and that could keep him away from captaincy.
The 32-year-old is the only one on the list to have captained India in all three formats. Rahul has already led India in three Tests, 12 ODIs and one T20I. He has even served as India’s Test vice-captain in the past. Rahul has also led Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League and has the most captaincy experience amongst everyone on this list.
The problem remains his form and fitness. India have played 21 Tests since 2022 but Rahul has featured in only nine of those. The right-handed batter has an average of 24.75 in these nine Tests. Rahul did score a brilliant 101 in South Africa and followed it up with a knock of 86 in the first Test against England before getting ruled out due to a quadricep tendon injury.
He is now back for the Bangladesh series and if he can stay consistent with the bat, Rahul could become a captaincy option for India in the future.
The middle-order batter has never led India in any format and is currently not part of the Test set-up, but could turn out to be a wild pick in the Test captaincy race. Under his leadership, Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL 2024. Iyer is leading India D in the ongoing Duleep Trophy.
Now, if he can find a way to get back into the Test team, the 29-year-old could throw his hat into the ring for the Test captaincy.
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