Rohit Sharma wanted to travel to England for the five-Test series and retire midway just like Dhoni had done during the 2014 tour of Australia, according to a report by Sky Sports. However, the offer was rejected by the BCCI and that reportedly led to the decision to retire ahead of the series. “Selectors wanted consistency during the series and offered Sharma the opportunity to go to the series, but not as captain. He decided to retire instead,” the report claimed. Rohit stunned everyone with his decision to retire from Test cricket and Kohli followed suit just few days later. As a result, the BCCI selectors face a tough challenge to fill the void left by the retirement of the two stalwarts of modern cricket.

The report further claimed that the BCCI selection committee held ‘informal talk’ with both Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as potential candidates to succeed Rohit as the next Test captain. 

The selection committee is expected to announce the squad for the England series around May 23 and although there have been many media reports surrounding Bumrah and Gill leading in the captaincy race, nothing official has been confirmed till now. 

“One selector at the BCCI has reservations over giving Gill the captaincy, given that his place on the side is not guaranteed, and suggested he would be better suited to the vice-captaincy role,” the report read.

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar feels the high-octane IPL is the perfect training ground for future India captains, providing the likes of Shubman Gill the required leadership experience before graduating to the highest level.

Gujarat Titans skipper Gill is expected to captain India on the Test tour of England following the retirement of Rohit Sharma. Rishabh Pant is likely to be his deputy.

Virat Kohli‘s retirement, which came just days after Rohit’s decision, has left a massive void in the Test team. Gavaskar said it would take at least a couple of years for Gill and other potential leaders like Pant and Shreyas Iyer to become finished products.

“It would take a couple of years (to groom future leaders) to get to the level of our super captains (MS Dhoni, Rohit, Virat). All of them brought a different approach to captaincy,” said Gavaskar in a response to a PTI query on Star Sports Press Room.

Pant is currently captaining LSG, while Iyer is leading the Punjab Kings in this IPL.

“When you see Gill, Iyer and Pant, three main pretenders to Indian captaincy you see an amalgamation of all three (Dhoni, Rohit, Virat). Gill probably is more competitive, when there is a decision, he is asking the umpire right away. He is probably a lot more involved.

“Though Pant is behind the stumps, he is also very involved. Iyer too has been superb. All three have brought a lot of positivity in the way they have been captaining.

“As a captain, nothing gets you more experience than pressure of a T20 game. It is the best training ground for captaincy,” added the former India captain.