"He still has to score runs outside Asia" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill as India's potential captain for IND vs ENG 2025 Tests

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Shubman Gill will almost certainly be appointed India's captain for the upcoming Test tour of England. However, he acknowledged that it will be a huge tour for Gill as the stylish batter hasn't yet performed well outside Asia.

India are scheduled to tour England for a five-match Test series, with the first game to be played in Leeds from June 20 onwards. With Rohit Sharma announcing his retirement from Test cricket, the visitors will have a new permanent captain at the helm.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that Jasprit Bumrah's reported inability to play every Test has virtually ensured that Gill would captain India. However, he added that the 25-year-old has a tough task ahead, considering his indifferent record with the bat outside the subcontinent.

"It's been heard that Jasprit Bumrah has said that he cannot play all five Tests. If that's true, you cannot make him the captain. You have to go in a different direction. Forget frontrunner, it seems like Shubman Gill's appointment has happened. You will get the confirmation on May 23," Chopra said (9:20).

"If we see Shubman Gill's numbers, they aren't very good. He has an average of 35 in the last five years, which is not ideal. So it could be a massive assignment for him as you have gone with a captain who has been awesome in ODI cricket, isn't part of the T20I team, and Test cricket is still going middling. He still has to score runs outside Asia," he added.

Shubman Gill has scored 1893 runs at an average of 35.05 in 32 Tests. The Punjab batter has managed 559 runs at an average of 25.40 in 13 Tests outside Asia.

---

"It also seems like Rishabh Pant will be made the vice-captain" - Aakash Chopra

Rishabh Pant did not have a great Test tour of Australia. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Rishabh Pant will likely be appointed Shubman Gill's deputy for India's Test tour of England.

"It also seems like Rishabh Pant will be made the vice-captain. If you are thinking why Rishabh Pant should be made the vice-captain, if we see the journey from 2020 to 2025, Rishabh Pant is India's highest run-scorer in Test cricket," he said.

The analyst noted that Pant has been India's most prolific Test batter in the last five years despite missing a few games due to injuries sustained in a horrific car accident.

"Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are also there, but Rishabh Pant is at the top of the table, and this is when he didn't play for a long time in between because of the accident that he had," Chopra observed.

Rishabh Pant has amassed 2948 runs at an average of 42.11 in 43 Tests. Although he might be in contention to be India's Test captain, his indifferent form in IPL 2025, albeit in a different format, could go against him.