Top 3 players overlooked for India’s Test captaincy in 2025

The Indian cricket team is set to embark on a new era in the Test format starting with the tour of England in June. Young batter Shubman Gill has become the 37th Indian Test captain after the formal announcement. The 25-year-old replaces Rohit Sharma, who led India in 24 Test matches with 12 wins, nine losses, and three drawn games. 

For long there were speculations that Shubman Gill was the odds-on favourite to take over as the new captain in the red-ball format. The right-handed batter is currently leading Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. After a slow start to life as the captain in the last edition of the IPL, Gill has performed well to take his side to the playoffs. 

Veteran star Ravindra Jadeja, despite his seniority, has been overlooked for the Test captaincy job. Jadeja had a brief stint as captain of Chennai Super Kings in 2022 before he was replaced mid-season by MS Dhoni. Since then Jadeja hasn’t figured in the leadership scheme of things in the IPL or international cricket. 

Here are the top 3 players who were looked for India’s Test captaincy 

3- Rishabh Pant 

Indian wicketkeeper and batter Rishabh Pant has been named the new vice-captain in the Test format. The 27-year-old is a well-established member of the Indian Test side and is considered one of the key players in the side. Pant may not have had a great time as LSG’s skipper but his cricketing acumen is very good. Pant is a much better player in the red-ball format compared to the white-ball format. He has also played match-winning knocks for India in the past in the longest format of the game. One of Pant’s most notable knocks came in Gabba, which helped India win the 2020/21 BGT series. 

2- KL Rahul 

33-year-old Indian batter KL Rahul has been overlooked for the Test captaincy job. Rahul has led India in three games, winning two and losing once in the absence of regular skippers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In fact, Rahul as the Test skipper would have made a lot of sense, as this would have been the perfect bridge between past eras and the future. The 33-year-old has been a solid player and over the years has performed well whether in the top order or in the middle order. Rahul has been the impeccable team man and will be gutted at being overlooked for India’s Test captaincy job. 

1- Jasprit Bumrah 

The leading candidate to replace Rohit Sharma as the next Test captain was ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The 31-year-old made his captaincy debut in the rescheduled Test vs England in 2022 that was played in Edgbaston. Bumrah lost his first game as captain but was able to lead India to a win in the Perth Test. The 31-year-old led India in the SCG test but had to pull out of the game midway due to injury. Constant fitness issues have ruled out Bumrah’s chances of becoming the full-time Test captain.