As the next phase of Test cricket begins for India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has some big shoes to fill. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin are all gone, while some next generation stars have been given the improbable task of replacing some of the finest players the game has seen. For the captaincy responsibility in the longest format, Shubman Gill's name is on the top of the charts, though former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth doesn't think the top-order batter is the right choice.
Srikkanth, who won the 1983 World Cup with the Indian team, feels Gill isn't even a guaranteed starter in India's Test XI, hence can't be given the leadership role. For Srikkanth, marquee pacer Jasprit Bumrah should be given the captaincy baton by the management.
"Who's a ready-made captaincy candidate now? Shubman Gill? I don't think he is still a certainty in the XI," Srikkanth told India Today. "You're not handing the captaincy to KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant. Otherwise, you give it to Jasprit Bumrah. "The other choice is Bumrah. You say, 'Boss, you're the captain'. And whichever Test match he doesn't play, you give KL Rahul the responsibility.
"As of now, I think Bumrah should be the captain. If I were the chairman of selectors, I would make Bumrah the captain. And then I'd say, 'Boss, play whichever matches you want to'. I'd then appoint KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant as vice-captain, because these are certainties in the XI," he further said.
Srikkanth feels the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is promoting Gill for the captaincy role 'just for the sake'. For him, it's important for the right-handed batter to first establish himself in the team by scoring runs in challenging conditions.
"There's nothing wrong with that. You can't be appointing someone as captain just for the sake of it. I don't know what the selectors are thinking, but this is my view," he added.
"A lot is being said about Shubman Gill, but he is yet to score big runs. In England, Australia, South Africa - he has never scored. That means you're thrusting everything on him. Let Shubman Gill establish himself in Test cricket. He is a king in home conditions."
Srikkanth was also asked about Kohli's retirement, with the news leaving the entire fraternity in a state of disbelief. While Srikkanth maintains that retirement is a personal decision, the BCCI should've done all it could to get Kohli change his mind.
"It's a personal choice (retirement). But if I were the selection committee chairman, I would have requested him personally: 'Boss, I want you to captain India for some time.'
"Now that Rohit is also not there, there's suddenly a void when it comes to captaincy. I would have had a conversation with him before his announcement. I would've told him: 'I want you to captain for the next six months or one-year period.' I would've told him: do the job for however long you want and then retire," Srikkanth said, adding that Kohli was India's best Test captain.