Reports: Gambhir, Agarkar at loggerheads on India Test captaincy proposition

Reports: Gambhir, Agarkar at loggerheads on India Test captaincy proposition. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

The India captaincy debate has started with former skipper Virat Kohli and current skipper Rohit Sharma in the last phase of their respective careers. There are still a lot of questions on who will go on to be the replacement for the two-time World Cup winner, with a lot of upcoming talented players who could be the perfect choice to lead the team in the future.

There have been talks of Jasprit Bumrah to be the replacement for Rohit Sharma who was leading the side in the absence of the 37-year-old opener in the two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as well. The other players who are also likely replacements for longest format’s captaincy are Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, who have led the national side before. Going into the future, there are further developments in the choice for the next captaincy with reports of arguments between head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee, on who to back as the next skipper in the longer format.

According to a report from Dainik Jagran, there were possibilities of moving on from Jasprit Bumrah to be the vice-captain on reasons of managing his workloads. The reports also suggested that Agarkar preferred Rishabh Pant, while Gambhir was backing young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal as the next Test captain. This seems to have led the selectors and the coaching staff being at loggerheads over the perfect captaincy candidate post Rohit’s departure.

Debate on ODI captaincy too

Apart from the Test captaincy, there are issues with the ODI team as well. There was a discussion about Suryakumar Yadav who took over the reins as the T20I skipper after Rohit Sharma’s retirement might also go on to lead the side in One-Day cricket but the idea of him leading the ODI team was completely crushed since he is yet to establish himself in 50-over format where he has an underwhelming average of 25.76 from 37 matches which creates more problems for the board.

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Rohit is expected to be leading the Indian team in the 2025 Champions Trophy that will take place in Pakistan and UAE. He has a great record in the format as a skipper where he has led the side in 48 ODIs and has a win record of 70.83% with 34 wins, 12 losses, one tie, and one no result.