The dust hasn't settled yet after India's Border Gavaskar Trophy loss against Australia. In a fresh report, a stunning claim has been made over Indian Test captaincy. Since the time regular captain Rohit Sharma dropped himself from the final Test against after a string of low scores, speculations have been rife over his future in the Indian Test team. India's next Test series is five over four months away in England. Whether Rohit Sharma will be picked for that series or not is a big question.
In the midst of this, a report has claimed that Kohli may be appointed as Indian Test captain on an interim basis as other 'junior' candidates are still not ready enough for the top job. The report also claimed that India coach Gautam Gambhir had spoken to Kohli regarding the return to captaincy but the former India captain has not yet indicated any inclination towards taking up the role again. The report also stated that Jasprit Bumrah may not be considered for the role due to workload management.
"Coach Gautam Gambhir has backed the idea of Virat leading the Test team again. But he is yet to clear his stance officially," the report in myKhel quoted a source as sying.
"Team India has done well under the aggressive captaincy of Virat, especially in overseas conditions. With the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle starting, the team needs a leader like Kohli because the next line of Test leaders is still in development. In the interim, Kohli looks like the most suited option."
With question marks over his future, Rohit Sharma was asked about his poor form ahead of the 1st India vs England ODI. He was quite irritated. "What sort of a question is that? This is a different format, different time. As usual, as cricketers, we know there will be ups and downs. I have faced that a lot in my career. This is nothing new to me. We know that every day is fresh, and every series is a new one. I am looking forward to the challenge. Not looking at the past. Clearly, you don't. So I don't have any reason to look at the past," Rohit had said in a press conference.
Rohit scored just two runs in the first ODI against England in Nagpur on his return to international cricket after a month. Rohit's long-time India teammate gave an interesting reply on people questioning the India star
"This is not easy. If you look at it from Rohit's point of view, then obviously, it is frustrating for him. He wants to concentrate on the series. He thinks that I've done well in this format and I'd like to continue. I'm going into the tournament with a lot of confidence on the back of the One-Day tournaments that I've played," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
"But people will ask questions. The ones who are watching will obviously ask. It's a catch-22 situation. You can't stop these questions. When will they stop? When he performs."