“Didn’t we have Rohit captain India in just 3 of the 5 Tests” - Sanjay Manjrekar’s massive claim on India’s Test skipper in ENG vs IND 2025 series

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the appointment of Jasprit Bumrah as the next Team India Test captain should be a no-brainer decision. He dismissed the ace speedster's workload management concerns by highlighting the fact that Rohit Sharma had also not led the Men in Blue for the entirety of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series.

Jasprit Bumrah had been the obvious stand-in captaincy candidate during Rohit Sharma's tenure as Test captain. The pacer stepped in to lead in England and Australia in recent years, but the dynamics change when full-time leadership is at stake.

Bumrah's injury record and the need to manage his workload carefully make it clear that it would be difficult for him to play all matches in the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. He played all five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar series, suffered a back injury towards the closing stages, and was then ruled out of the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Manjrekar highlighted how availability cannot be a factor while deciding on the new Test captain.

"If Bumrah’s availability because of injuries is the issue, didn’t we have Rohit captain India in just 3 off the 5 Tests in Aus recently? Availability can’t be the be all & end all, deservability far more important. Especially in Tests," Manjrekar posted on X.

Rohit Sharma had missed the series opener in Perth to attend the birth of his second child, while he opted out of the series finale in Sydney of his own accord due to poor form.

"Has Bumrah said he won’t captain India? Or has he ruled himself out of the England series? Then why are we discussing who will captain India?" he wrote in another post on X.

Shubman Gill has emerged as another frontrunner for the role as India look to embrace the transition wholeheartedly. Other senior players in the red-ball setup, like KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, have also been tipped for the role by former players.

Team India to tour England for five Tests to kickstart WTC 2025-27 cycle

Team India have had to change their plans at the last moment after both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their Test retirement in the space of a few days. The senior duo were expected to bring their experience in the crucial away series, but certain calls have to be made in regard to both batting personnel as well as the leadership group.

The tour will begin with the first Test on June 20 in Headingley, Leeds. Team India last won a series in England back in 2007 under Rahul Dravid's captaincy.