AGENCY
new delhi, MAY 14
The recent retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have created a significant leadership vacuum in India’s Test team, feels former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin while backing star quick Jasprit Bumrah to take over the reins of the side as they embark on a crucial tour of England for a five-Test rubber, marking the start of a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, and a transitional phase in Indian cricket.
“I didn’t have an idea that both (Rohit and Kohli) would retire together. This will be a testing time for Indian cricket, and I’ll say this is truly now the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show ‘Ash Ki Baat’.
“The team that will tour England will be a completely new team, a transformed team where Bumrah will probably be the senior-most player. He is obviously one of the captaincy options; I think he deserves the captaincy, but the selectors will take a decision based on his physical capacity. “Their retirements will definitely create a leadership vacuum. You can’t buy experience, especially on tours like this. Virat’s energy and Rohit’s composure will be missed.”
Shubman Gill is being tipped as the frontrunner to succeed Rohit despite Bumrah having been the vice-captain until the tour of Australia earlier this year. He was the stand-in captain during the victory in the Perth Test and also led the side when Rohit stood down for the fifth Test in Sydney. Reflecting on the timing of Rohit and Kohli’s retirements, Ashwin said he thought both players had more to offer. “There will be a sense of fulfilment, but I honestly feel Kohli definitely had one-two years of Test cricket left in him. Rohit, I feel, would at least go on till the England Test series, because there’s a leadership vacuum in the team,” Ashwin said. “Tests have been the finest [format for India] in the last 10-12 years, but just for the sake of leadership, Rohit should’ve played till the England series, and if he’d performed, he could’ve carried on and given some more leadership.
“My favourite piece of batsmanship from Rohit for India was when he played in England [2021]. When he and KL Rahul opened, we were 2-1 ahead because of Rohit. The opening partnership was strong,” he added. “Rohit’s best phase as a Test batter was between 2018-19 and 2022-23. His batting was top notch even in the series which we won in Australia during Covid. Then also he was looking very good, didn’t get big runs but batting was top notch.”
Rating Kohli’s twin centuries in Adelaide during his Test captaincy debut in 2014 as one of the finest performances he had seen, Ashwin said, “Kohli, the Test cricketer, was box office; he was a brand ambassador of Test cricket in many ways,” Ashwin said.
“Some of his best knocks haven’t always resulted in wins, but that’s taking nothing away from those knocks. The twin hundreds in Adelaide in 2014 – that knock not finishing in a win is a shame. The 153 in Jo’burg, the pink-ball Test when we were all out for 36, the 74 he made in the first innings – some of the knocks are incredible.”
