New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant shape up as strong candidates for taking the Test team captaincy in near future, citing their youth and the potential for long careers as key reasons.

Shastri added that he would not put much leadership pressure on fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, citing his importance in the Indian bowling department. India will be led by a new captain on their five-match tour of England, starting on June 20 at Headingley, after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Tests earlier this month.

“You groom somebody and I would say Shubman’s looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He’s 25, 26 years of age, even give him time. There’s Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I’m looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them. So, let them learn,” said Shastri on The ICC Review show.

Both Pant and Gill are captaining their respective franchises – Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans – in IPL 2025. Pant captained India in 2022 T20I series at home against South Africa, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Gill, the top-ranked ODI batter, was the captain when the side toured Zimbabwe last year for a five-match series in the shortest format and won 4-1.

“They’ve got experience as captains, now, captaining their franchise and that makes a difference. The little I’ve seen of Shubman looks very interesting. Composed, calm, he has all the qualities,” added Shastri.

He also quashed talks over Gill’s poor overseas record in Tests. “You people will talk he’s not scored runs overseas. You know, that topic always comes, not scored runs overseas. Sometimes I tell them, go and see your own record, how much have you done overseas?”

“Overseas, overseas, let him play, let him get a run overseas, then he’ll score runs. He’s a class player. He has a decade of cricket ahead of him for the country. And I’m sure he’ll get cracking in one of the tours, he’ll make up for all those runs he’s not got on earlier.”

Bumrah has captained India in three Tests, and was at the helm when they won the Perth Test in last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. But he suffered a back injury during the final Test of the Australia tour at the Sydney Cricket Ground and didn’t bowl at all in the second innings.

That back injury also resulted in Bumrah missing out on the 2025 victorious Champions Trophy campaign. Though he’s back in IPL 2025, Bumrah’s fitness issues means he is not a certainty yet to play all five Tests on the tour of England.

“See for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don’t want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler. I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He’s coming back now after a serious injury.”

“He’ll have played IPL cricket, which is four-over cricket. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs. And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well,” concluded Shastri.

–IANS

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