Not Shubman Gill Or KL Rahul! India Votes For 31-Year-Old Star As Next Test Captain In Post Rohit-Kohli Era

India will have a new Test captain for the England series Photo : AP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS India will have a new Test captain in England

BCCI are likely to name the skipper alongside the squad

India face a tough choice to replace Rohit Sharma

After the retirements of current and former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli , India will head into the marquee five-match Test series against England as well as the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a new captain.

Unlike in the past, when Kohli took over MS Dhoni or Rohit replaced Kohli, the Indian team does not have a clear-cut transition plan so far. Ajit Agarkar, Gautam Gambhir, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) face a tough choice to name a replacement, and a unanimous choice is unlikely.

The New Test Captain of The Indian Cricket Team - India Votes

In a poll conducted by TimesNowSport on X (formerly known as Twitter), cricket fans picked Jasprit Bumrah as the standout name for the leadership role. Bumrah was the vice-captain of the Test team over the recent past and has already captained the team in three Test matches, including two in the series against Australia.

Bumrah emerged as the overwhelming winner in our poll with 40.6% votes among the 404 people who voted. While Shubman Gill has emerged as a front-runner for the job as per media reports, KL Rahul (29.7%) was the second in the voting list. Gill got the third-most votes (21.8%). Despite being among India's most consistent players in Test cricket since the start of the decade, Rishabh Pant emerged as an unpopular option for captaincy with only 7.9% votes.x

When Will New Captain Be Announced?

An announcement on the new captain is expected in the next few days as the Agarkar-led selection committee is set to announce a new look Test squad for the series against England. The name of the new captain is likely to be made public on the same day.

If Bumrah is appointed as the new captain, he will become the first specialist pacer and second fast-bowler after Kapil Dev to lead India on a permanent basis in Test cricket. Like Bumrah, Rahul has also captained India in three Test matches so far. Meanwhile, both Pant and Gill have captained India in 5 T20Is each but are yet to lead the Test team. If either gets the nod for the top job, he will become the 37th player to lead India in the longest format of the game.

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