Bharat Arun explains why a bowler cannot take up India's Test captaincy

Virat Kohli's decision to step down as India's Test captain took the world by storm. Taking his captaincy records into account, he was indeed statistically India's best captain in the longest format of the game. However, there are several candidates to lead India in red-ball cricket.

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While Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are the frontrunners to replace Virat Kohli as India's Test skipper, a few fans and experts felt that Ravichandran Ashwin could be a good option as well. The off-spinner has been one of India's best red-ball players. However, Bharat Arun was against the idea of handing captaincy to a bowler, especially spinner,

He explained that the conditions may not be spin-friendly and thus, the team would have to play just one spinner in the XI. He also drew light on Ravindra Jadeja being picked as the sole spinner in the XI due to his batting abilities.

I would rather pick a batter as a Test captain: Bharat Arun

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"The same with Ashwin; what if your combination changes? I would think with the present scenario, bowler becoming a captain will be challenging. You also take into account the different kinds of pitches you play on... What if you need to play just a lone spinner abroad and it happens to be Ravindra Jadeja because of the team strategy... then it becomes a problem, so I would rather pick a batter as a Test captain," said Bharat Arun while speaking to Sportsstar.

He also cited the same reasons, and said that Jasprit Bumrah shouldn't be made the captain either. He questioned if the bowlers could manage their workload and play all the games. He felt that it want advisable to change a captain midway through the series.

"There was also a debate on Bumrah captaining the side. The thing is will they play all Tests? With the workload management in place, would Bumrah be playing all Tests? What if in the middle of a series, he has to take a break? Then you have a change in leadership again. I feel it is not advisable to change a leader midway through a series unless the captain is injured," he added.