“Not Bumrah” – Ravi Shastri Names Two Future Leaders Who Can Take India Forward
Ravi Shastri believes Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant should lead India in Tests, not Jasprit Bumrah due to his fitness.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are the best options to lead India in Test cricket after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. He feels both players have already shown leadership skills in the IPL and have age on their side.
India’s next big Test series is against England, starting June 20 at Leeds. With Rohit stepping down, the selectors need to pick a new long-term Test captain.
Bumrah Should Focus on Bowling
Shastri said that Jasprit Bumrah would have been the obvious choice to lead India after the Australia series, but due to his injury history, he should not be given the added pressure of captaincy.
“I don’t want Jasprit to be made captain and then lose him as a bowler,” Shastri said in the latest ICC Review episode with Bumrah’s wife Sanjana Ganesan.
Bumrah recently recovered from a back injury and missed a good part of the season, including India’s Champions Trophy win. Though he returned for IPL 2025 and has picked 13 wickets in 8 games for Mumbai Indians, Shastri thinks longer-format matches will test him further.
“He has to take it one game at a time. From 4-over IPL games to 15-over spells in Tests is a big shift,” Shastri explained.
Gill & Pant Are Long-Term Options
Shastri named Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as strong captaincy choices for the future. He highlighted their experience as current IPL captains — Gill for Gujarat Titans and Pant for Lucknow Super Giants — and said this gives them a good base for leading India.
“Shubman is 25–26, give him time and a chance. Rishabh too has a long career ahead. These two are obvious choices for me,” said Shastri.
He praised Gill’s calm personality and composure on the field and called him a class player who will eventually perform well overseas.
“Let him play. He’ll get runs overseas too. He’s a quality player and has ten years ahead of him.”
As per Shastri, the board should not rush but instead focus on grooming young leaders for the long term.
