India’s Test and ODI captain is likely to miss the opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, citing personal reasons. BCCI is yet to announce the stand-in captain for the test. 

(Cricket news) Rohit Sharma’s proficiency as the test captain can be seen through his undimmed record of 12 wins, 4 losses, and 2 draws from 18 matches, which includes a recent 4-1 dominant victory against England and Bangladesh being blanked by 2-0 at home. But Rohit is likely to miss the opener of the most-awaited and most important test series, the Border-GavasTrophy, from November 22 due to personal reasons. 

Now, BCCI would have to look for someone to fill in his shoes, Shubman Gill, the ODI and T20I vice-captain, is at the top of the contention, doesn’t have any experience of captaincy in the longest format, and’s prospect to lead India across the formats in the future, whereas Jasprit Bumrah has earlier led the team in the test in Edgbaston at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in 2022 when Rohit was coerced to sit out after testing positive for COVID-19. 

BCCI is keen to announce the test’s vice-captain is not temporarily but to prepare an individual for future challenges. Bumrah is the cornerstone of India’s bowling line-up and is a very pivotal part of the set-up, thus making his availability very important for the bigger series. Making him the deputy of Rohit Sharma would eventually increase the burden on him, whereas BCCI is very proactive in managing his workload, which would make him miss some matches in the future, thus ruling out the possibility of him as the vice-captain. 

25-year-old Shubman Gill, who rose into a proficient, relentless, maverick, and enviable batter with an array of shots, is now at the top of the contention as BCCI sees huge potential in the youngster following his demeanor in the dressing room with a glimpse that was seen in 4-1 victory against Zimbabwe in July. He could fit in the role and deputise Rohit Sharma and lead the team in the longest format, specifically in Rohit’s absence in the opener of BGT. 

Giving him the role in a match of such stature against opponents that would feature the big names of cricket with the likes of Steven Smith, Patrick Cummins, Marnush Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazelwood would be a bold move from the management, but Gill would be having the back of Indian aces in the form of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, who could also step up in the role for the opener. 

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