The most likely candidate to take over as India's next Test captain is Shubman Gill, who will probably begin his career in the forthcoming five-match series against England, which starts on June 20. There has been a lot of conjecture about who would lead India ever since Rohit Sharma decided to hang up his boots in the longest format last week. Shubman Gill may be the best option, according to former England spinner Moeen Ali, but he also noted the young player's "inexperience" in taking charge in Test matches.

Moeen Ali added that although the BCCI would have preferred Jasprit Bumrah to captain India against England, the management may decide not to do so given the pacer's workload.

Moeen Ali On India's Next Test Captain

In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against Australia, Bumrah captained the team in Rohit Sharma's absence and led them to win in the Perth Test. But after he collapsed in Sydney due to a back spasm, rumours began to circulate that the bowler might not be the captain in Test matches.

“I think it will be Shubman Gill. Ideally, the BCCI would want Jasprit Bumrah to captain because he is a very good captain, a good leader who has done it before. But because of his injury record, he might not be able to last the whole series,” Moeen Ali told Sky Sports.

“I think they'll give the captaincy to somebody who's done decently so far in Test cricket. Gill leads Gujarat Titans in IPL, so they've still got a very, very good captain, inexperienced, yes, but a good captain and good brain, but it'll be a challenge in the English conditions,” he added.

Gill will be visiting England for the second time. Gill does not have a lot of numbers in whites, even though he is considered the leading candidate to be India's captain in the future. He only averages 35 in Test cricket after 32 games, which drops to 29 in away Tests. Bangladesh was the venue of Gill's lone Test century away from home.

Gill began his Test career as an opening batsman however, as Cheteshwar Pujara waned, he was moved to No. 3. During the 2023 West Indies tour when Rahul Dravid was the team's head coach, he offered himself for that role. After taking over as captain, there is no reason to think he will switch up his batting order unless he wants to use the renowned No. 4 spot that Virat Kohli's resignation left open.

Given that England's five Test matches are scheduled over six weeks, India will have to rest bowlers for one or more games to manage the workload of their pace attack, hence excluding Bumrah from consideration for captaincy.

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