Kolkata: 

Though it is still unclear whether any discussion has taken place between Rohit Sharma and the five wise men — Ajit Agarkar, Shiv Sundar Das, Subroto Banerjee, Ajay Ratra, and Sridharan Sharath- Sharma's decision to opt out may be his own.

There's a cloud hovering over India skipper Rohit Sharma's participation in the 5-match Test series against England that starts at Leeds, Headingley, on June 20. According to the grapevine, Sharma may drop himself from the long-format contests against England.

"He has not retired yet, and so he is very much in the scheme of things for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)... He has been reinstated as the captain of the Indian team," a BCCI source said without elaborating much on Sharma's future in red-ball cricket.

However, Sharma's performance in the red-ball game has come under severe criticism after he miserably failed Down Under in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. The 37-year-old Sharma scored a total of 31 runs in three Tests (He skipped the first Test at Perth and the last Test at Sydney) at an average of 6.20 with the highest being 10.

It may be recalled that Rohit Sharma dropped himself in the last Test against Australia in Sydney at the beginning of this year owing to "not being in good touch." So, it won't be a surprise if he skips Tests in England and comes back fresh for the white-ball cricket (ODIs only, as he has already retired from T20s).

As far as captaincy is concerned, the BCCI has put faith in Rohit Sharma after the star batter led India to back-to-back ICC titles, besides finishing runners-up in the ICC World Cup 2023 prior to that.

In case Rohit Sharma himself decides to opt out of the Tests against England, Jasprit Bumrah will be the front-runner to lead the side against the Lions in June-July this year. There's also a catch about Bumrah's fitness as he has been on the bench since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and is also missing a few games in the IPL 2025. The third choice for Test captaincy is young opener Subhman Gill.

However, India's preparations for the series against the Lions are in full swing as the India A team (likely to be led by Ruturaj Gaekwad) will play a few first-class fixtures in England as a prelude to the 5-match Test series. It is also learnt that 33-year-old batter Karun Nair, whose last association with the Indian team was way back in 2017, may again get a look-in in the India A squad in the first-class games scheduled for May 30 and June 6. Nair exhibited his rollicking form with the willow in the last Ranji Trophy, amassing 863 runs, including four tons, at an average of close to 54.

Meanwhile, there are also talks of trimming the support staff of the Indian tea,m with Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel's positions considered safe for the time being.

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