Shubman Gill was named the captain of the Indian Test team as the BCCI announced the squad for the five-match Test series against England. The move didn't come as a surprise as Gill's name was almost confirmed even before it was revealed by the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. Gill's credentials in Tests so far have been average, but he was picked purely based on his potential and India's long-term ambitions.

Gill wouldn't have thought about leading India in England just a few months ago, during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, even as Rohit Sharma's Test career neared an end. Jasprit Bumrah was the vice-captain of the team and led India in the absence of Rohit Sharma during the series. He was tipped to replace Rohit as permanent captain, however, a back injury in the final Test disrupted the plans.

Bumrah fell out of the leadership race given his workload management, which would require him to miss a few matches here and there. Even Ajit Agarkar said that Bumrah is unlikely to play all five Tests of the England tour.

The theory, however, has left Sanjay Manjrekar unimpressed. Manjrekar cited the example of Rohit Sharma, who missed two Tests in Australia, and Virat Kohli, who opted out of Test matches during his captaincy stint, and said that Bumrah should have been made the captain even if he was not going to play all five tests in England.

“What I found strange about the selection was the captain's choice. I just failed to understand why Bumrah was not even considered. The reason for that was his likelihood of not playing the entire series. We've had Rohit Sharma, who recently captained India and played only three of the five test matches. We had Virat Kohli in the past opting out of test matches and not playing the full series. But still, the captain,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

“Bumrah's injury is an issue. You've got to realise he's the only senior and, at this stage, a genuinely great player in this test team. So, worst case scenario, if you had Bumrah for two test matches, you want to start off with Bumrah as your captain. I mean, I just can't understand why you wouldn't think like that,” he added.

While Gill was named the captain of the side, Rishabh Pant was handed the vice-captain duties of the team. The England tour gets underway on June 20.