According to a Sky Sports report, Rohit Sharma wanted to travel to England for a five-observer series and Dhoni retired the midway during the 2014 tour of Australia. However, the proposal was rejected by BCCI and it was allegedly decided to retire before the series. The report claimed, “The selectors wanted continuity during the series and gave Sharma an opportunity to enter the series, but not as captain. He decided to retire instead.” Rohit shocked everyone with his decision to retire from Test cricket and Kohli followed the suit a few days later. As a result, the BCCI selectors face a difficult challenge to fill the zero left by the retirement of two stallwarts of modern cricket.
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The report further claimed that the BCCI Selection Committee organized a ‘informal talk’ with both Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, who as a potential candidates to succeed Rohit as the next Test captain.
The selection committee is expected to announce the squad for the England series around May 23 and although the Captain’s race has received several media reports around Bumrah and Gill, nothing has been confirmed so far.
The report said, “A BCCI selector has reserving the captaincy to Gill, given that his place is not guaranteed, and suggested that he would be better for the vice-containted role.”
Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar feels that the high-octane IPL is the right training ground for future India captains, providing the required leadership experience to Shubman Gill before graduating to the highest level.
Gill, a skipper of Gujarat Titans, is expected to captain India on a test tour of England after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Rishabh Pant is likely to be his deputy.
Virat Kohli’s retirement, which came only a few days after Rohit’s decision, has left zero in a large scale in the test team. Gavaskar said that it would take at least a few years for other potential leaders like Gill and Pants and Shreyas Iyer.
In response to a PTI Query in Star Sports Press Room, Gavaskar said, “It will take a few years to reach the level of our super captain (MS Dhoni, Rohit, Virat) (for the groom for future leaders). All of them brought a different view to captaincy.”
The pants are currently captaining LSG, while Iyer is leading Punjab Kings in this IPL.
“When you look at Gill, Iyer and Pants, the three main pretense of Indian captaincy you see a amalgamation of the three (Dhoni, Rohit, Virat). Gill is probably more competitive, when there is a decision, he is immediately asking the umpire. He probably included too much.
“Although Pant is behind the stump, he is also very involved. Iyer has also been fantastic. The three have brought a lot of positivity to the way they are captaining.
“As a captain, nothing gives you more experience from the pressure of the T20 game. It is the best training ground for captaincy,” said the former captain of former India.
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