Picture Credit: X
Last month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Team India’s new Test captain after Rohit Sharma announced retirement following a series of poor outings with the bat. However, Rohit Sharma’s decision wasn’t much to everyone’s surprise, Shubman Gill was named the new Test captain, becoming the 37th overall to lead India in red-ball cricket.
However, Gill’s skills will be put to Test when India takes on England in the highly-anticipated five-match Test series, starting from June 20, there continues to be talk around why Jasprit Bumrah was not given the captaincy reins, despite being the vice-captain as well as a senior pro. While the stir around it continues, former Australia captain and one of the greats, Ricky Ponting recently opened up on Bumrah’s snub from Test captaincy.
I actually think it's the right move: Ricky Ponting on Shubman Gill being named India’s Test captain
Speaking on The ICC Review, the former Aussie cricketer opined that naming Gill over Bumrah was a right move as the Men in Blue are undergoing a transition phase. "I actually think it's the right move. I know there's a lot of other people out there, pundits out there saying they can't understand why it wasn't Bumrah and why they have gone to Shubman, but I think it's pretty simple,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
"Bumrah's injuries are holding him back a bit in the last couple of years and you don't want that with a captain. You can't have a captain coming in and missing games here and there, so I think it's the right decision," Ponting continued. "Now that they've made it, it's one they've got to stick with and give him (Gill) a good crack at it for a long period of time," he further added.
The Men in Blue will lock horn with England in a five-match Test series, with the first Test scheduled to start from June 20 at Headingley in Leeds. It has to be seen how the side comes out under the new leadership of Gill and without the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
India’s squad for England Test series
Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
