New Delhi: 

Top-order batter Shubman Gill is in pole position to become India’s Test captain after the retirment of Rohit Sharma a month before their five-match England series.

Apart from being a top batter, Gill is viewed as a future leader and with a new World Test Chamoionship cycle beginning with the England series in June, the BCCI selectors are llking to appoint someone who could be a long-term skipper.

In that regard Gill is better placed that KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant before the England series begins on June 20.

The pacer missed the Champions Trophy with a back injury and has only returned to action in the ongoing Indian Premier League. To manage his workload, he is unlikely to play in all the five Tests in England, making the selectors lean towards a full-time option in Gill.

“We want a player who will be available for all five Test matches and he (Bumrah) should be given the vice-captain’s role,” sources told The Indian Express.

Though Bumrah has been the caotain in to other Test matches too but his long list of injuries, with a back probem making him sit out the fifth Testm has diminished his chances.

Rohit wasn’t available for the first match too due to the birth of his second child as Jasprit Bumrah led the team in his absence. Bumrah remains the senior most candidate for the role though he is unlikely to be considered for the role owing to his injury issues.

The 25-year-old was part of India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia where Rohit was dropped for the fifth and final Test in Sydney due to poor form.

Gill is presently the team’s vice captin in white-ball formats and multiple reports suggest that a section of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s selectors believe he is the ideal candidate for the job at the moment as a long-term solution.

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