Former Indian cricket team batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Jasprit Bumrah should be the top option to replace Rohit Sharma as the Test captain. Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket and five days later, Virat Kohli also followed suit. With the England series taking place in June, the selectors will have to choose the next captain of the Indian cricket team. Bumrah captained the side in Rohit's absence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia but several media reports claimed that Shubman Gill is the top contender for the job right now. Manjrekar was 'shocked' that Bumrah was not the only option for captaincy and said that if the selectors are concerned about his fitness, they should choose a vice-captain who can handle the situation in his absence.
"I am shocked that we are looking at any other option other than Bumrah as Test captain! Worried about his injuries? Then choose your vice captain carefully." he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, R Ashwin has rooted for Jasprit Bumrah to take the captaincy mantle after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's sudden Test retirements left a leadership vacuum in India's red-ball setup.
Rohit bid adieu to Test cricket last Wednesday, and a couple of days later, Virat bid his farewell to the format with a heartfelt note on Instagram. Ashwin, who had no clue about India's batting bigwigs' intentions to retire together, feels "testing time" lies ahead for Indian cricket, and their decision "truly" marks the beginning of the 'Gautam Gambhir' era.
"I didn't have an idea that both [Rohit and Kohli] would retire together. This will be a testing time for Indian cricket, and I'll say this is truly now the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era," Ashwin said on his YouTube show 'Ash Ki Baat'.
If the recent reports are to be believed, Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to take on the captaincy tag despite Bumrah serving as former skipper Rohit's deputy in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He served as the stand-in captain in Perth and led the side when Rohit opted out in the final Test in Sydney.
"The team that will tour England will be a completely new team, a transformed team where Bumrah will probably be the senior-most player. He is obviously one of the captaincy options; I think he deserves the captaincy, but the selectors will make a decision based on his physical capacity," he said.
(With IANS inputs)