Why KL Rahul is not being considered as Rohit Sharma's successor as captain in Tests, report reveals

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket . The 38-year-old star batter from Mumbai shared the news on Instagram last week, creating a buzz around the cricket world. Rohit led India in Tests from 2022 to 2024 and was one of the most experienced players in the team.

With Rohit now retired, India will soon name a new captain for the five-match Test series against England, which starts on 24 June. According to reports, batter Shubman Gill is the top name being considered for the role, while Rishabh Pant is being tipped to become his deputy.

Some reports also suggested Jasprit Bumrah’s name as Rohit’s successor but it is being said that the ace pacer pulled himself out of the race citing workload management as the main reason. Meanwhile, some fans feel KL Rahul should be the next Test captain because of his extensive experience.

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However, a report from news agency PTI recently claimed that Rahul is not in the race to be the next Test captain. The reason given is that Rahul is already 33 years old and has not been consistent in red-ball cricket, averaging just 33 after 11 years and 58 matches. But he performed well in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“It is understood that KL Rahul isn’t being considered as an option as he is already 33 plus and consistency has been an issue with the Bengaluru player even though he was one of the better performers in Australia,” the report stated.

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Rahul has scored 3257 runs in 58 Test matches with an average of 33.57. He has eight centuries and 17 fifties to his name. In the recent series against Australia, he opened the innings in four Tests and scored 276 runs. His best knocks were 77 in Perth and 84 in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, Rahul is expected to be part of the Indian squad that travels to England next month. He is currently busy playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season for Delhi Capitals. Rahul scored a century in a losing cause against Gujarat Titans on Sunday. The five-match series will mark the start of the new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) for India.