Ravi Ashwin opens up on new Indian Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement

Former Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin, who retired from all forms of cricket in December 2024, has opened up on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s retirements from the longest format of the game ahead of the England tour.

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Ashwin talked about a major leadership vacuum created after the duo’s retirements. While in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah led the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, he is likely to miss a few games in the five-match Test series against England as part of the workload management. 

While the media reports clearly stated that the Indian top-order batter Shubman Gill, who has been a constant part of the team at home and away, is the front-runner to lead the team, Ashwin feels Bumrah, the senior-most player, would be the ideal choice to captain the Test side.

"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'. 

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"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,” he added.

Talking about Kohli and Rohit’s retirements, Ashwin felt the rookie Indian team will miss Kohli’s energy and Rohit’s composure on the England tour. Moreover, the former spinner felt the duo still had enough left to offer more to Indian cricket.

"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. Tests has 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,” he concluded.

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