Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons that if he were in place of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors, he would pick Virat Kohli as captain and Shubman Gill as his deputy for the upcoming away five-Test match series as Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.
Vaughan took his 'X', formerly known as Twitter to share a post suggesting that Kohli should lead India in England, Gill would be his deputy.
"If I was India I would give the captaincy to Virat for the Test series in England .. Shubman Gill can be his VC for the tour" Vaughan posted.
Vaughan's social media post came a day after Kohli reportedly told BCCI that he will unlikely to be available for the upcoming five-Test match series against England. However, soon after Rohit's retirement, there are reports that the new red-ball captain will be picked between Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. Selectors expected to meet next week to discuss about the role. Whoever misses out on the captaincy is expected to be named as the next vice-captain of the side.
The reports further stated that Jasprit Bumrah who was Rohit's deputy in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in the five-Test match series, has ruled himself out of the race for becoming the next Test captain. According to the report from Sky Sports, the reason why Bumrah has ruled himself out of the captaincy race is that he cannot commit to playing all five Tests during the tour of England due to workload management. Bumrah had also missed the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year after a back injury during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The five-Test match series between India and England is scheduled to start from June 20. Here is the schedule.