 "Jasprit Bumrah is expected to succeed Rohit Sharma as Test captain on a full-time basis starting with the five-match series in England later this year. Reuters")
After a horrid run in recent months, Rohit Sharma appears to have regained his old touch as batter as well as captain after leading from the front in the recently-concluded ODI series against England. Not only did he score a match-winning century in the second game in Cuttack, he was tactically on point as the Men in Blue whitewashed the sorry Englishmen 3-0 , sending a warning to defending champions Pakistan and other teams ahead of the Champions Trophy in the process.
His revival in the One-Dayers, however, isn’t likely to resurrect his Test career. According to news agency PTI, Rohit’s days as a Test cricketer are over and senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah will take over as the red-ball captain on a full-time basis starting with the tour of England later this summer.
That fact that Bumrah is expected to play a central role as a leader in the five-Test series in Australia is also the reason why the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee decided against taking the risk of including him for the ICC Champions Trophy , which gets underway in four days’ time.
“The key issue appears to be that Bumrah has not yet resumed full-intensity bowling, and experts believe it would be challenging for him to get match-fit in such a brief period.”
“Instead, he could make his comeback with Mumbai Indians in the IPL and then lead India in England, as Rohit Sharma is unlikely to be selected for Tests again,” PTI wrote.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBumrah had led India to a humongous 295-run victory in the first Test against Australia in Perth, their only victory in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that they ended up losing 1-3 . Rohit had missed the tour opener as he was on paternity leave, and led the team in the next three Tests in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
How Rohit put his spot in Test team in jeopardy
Rohit would end up scoring just 31 runs across five outings at an average of 6.20 as India would suddenly concede the series lead to the Pat Cummins-led Aussies following defeats at the Adelaide Oval and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts could have been 3-1 up heading into the final Test in Sydney had incessant rain not played spoilsport in the third Test at The Gabba.
Rohit would then voluntarily opt out of the fifth Test in Sydney due to his wretched form as batter as well as captain, with Bumrah taking over the reins once again. The senior pacer, however, missed a majority of the ‘Pink Test’ due to a back spasm that prevented him from bowling during Australia’s chase of the 162-run target set by the visitors, which they ended up chasing down with six wickets to spare.
In Bumrah’s absence, star batter and former captain Kohli led the Indians. The senior pacer later was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series’ for finishing as the leading wicket-taker – 32 wickets at a superb average of 13.06.
Many had believed the fourth Test in Melbourne to be Rohit’s last appearance in whites, though the ‘Hitman’ later insisted he was not done with the format just yet during an interview with the broadcasters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Before the underwhelming tour of Australia, Rohit and Co had suffered a stunning 0-3 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand at home that brought their 12-year winning streak in home Test assignments to an end. Rohit and Kohli hardly contributed with the bat in that series as well, scoring just one half-century across three Tests.