Ravi Shastri reveals his picks for new Team India captain

Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are ideal candidates to lead the national side in Test cricket, given that they have age in their favour as well as the experience of leading IPL teams.

“You groom somebody and I would say Shubman`s looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He`s 25, 26 years of age, even give him time. There`s Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I`m looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them. So, let them learn. They`ve got experience as captains, now, captaining their (IPL) franchise and that makes a difference,” Shastri said on the latest episode of the ICC Review with Sanjana Ganesan.

The former cricketer also feels that lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah would have been an obvious choice for the captaincy role in the traditional format, but because of his fitness issues, he should be protected from the additional burden.

“See for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don`t want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler,” added Shastri.

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Following the Test retirement of Rohit Sharma, the Indian think tank will have a huge question as to who to appoint as their new captain. Team India will clash against England in their upcoming five-match Test series.

The England series is set to kick off on June 20.

Further, Shastri feels that additional pressure on a player like Bumrah is the last thing you want to put.

“I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He`s coming back now after a serious injury. He`ll have played IPL cricket, which is four-over cricket. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs (in Tests). And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well,” said the 62-year-old.

Shastri said that Gill`s calm demeanour makes him a good choice to lead India.

“The little I`ve seen of Shubman looks very interesting. Composed, calm, he has all the qualities,” said Shastri about the No.1-ranked batter in the ICC ODI Player Rankings.

He also quashed concerns over Gill`s form overseas, saying his class and calibre will come to the fore on foreign tours sooner or later.

“You people will talk he`s not scored runs overseas. You know, that topic always comes, not scored runs overseas. Sometimes I tell them, go and see your own record, how much have you done overseas? Overseas, overseas, let him play, let him get a run overseas, then he`ll score runs. He`s a class player. He has a decade of cricket ahead of him for the country,” said the veteran of 80 Test matches.

“And I`m sure he`ll get cracking in one of the tours, he`ll make up for all those runs he`s not got on earlier,” concluded the former India coach. 

(With PTI Inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day