Srikkanth Advocates Jasprit Bumrah Over Shubman Gill for Test Captaincy
Former India cricketer Srikkanth has questioned Shubman Gill's Test captaincy and considered Jasprit Bumrah as a better option. According to Srikkanth, Gill does not have a permanent place in the team, so Bumrah should be made the captain. He said that by making Bumrah the captain, KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant could be appointed as vice-captain.
India's World Test Championship campaign is scheduled to begin next month and before that, the Board of Control for India has replaced many big players. While many players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have retired from red-ball cricket, some of the next generation of stars have been given the task of replacing some of the best players in the game. Shubman Gill is at the top of the list for captaincy in the Test format, although former India player Srikkanth does not feel that Gill is the right choice.
Srikkanth, who was part of India's 1983 World Cup-winning team, feels that Shubman Gill is not a definite starter in India's Test XI, so he cannot be given a leadership role. According to Srikkanth, Jasprit Bumrah should be handed over the captaincy. Srikkanth said in an interview, "Who is the ready candidate for captaincy now? Shubman Gill? I don't think he's still certain in XI. You are not handing over captaincy to KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant. Otherwise, you can give it to Jasprit Bumrah. The second option is Bumrah. You say, 'Boss, you're the captain.' And whatever Test matches he doesn't play, you give the responsibility to KL Rahul. "
He further said, "At the moment I think Bumrah should be the captain. If I were the chairman of selectors, I would have made Bumrah the captain. And then I'd say, 'Boss, play whatever match you want to play.' "Then I would have appointed KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant as vice-captain, because Inna is bound to be in the playing XI. "
Srikkanth feels that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is promoting Gill for the captaincy role "just for name". For him, it is important for the right-hander to establish himself in the first team by scoring runs in challenging conditions. "There is nothing wrong in it. You can't make someone captain just for namesake. I don't know what the selectors are thinking, but that's my opinion. "