Gill leads the race for India's next Test captain after Rohit's retirement

Shubman Gill has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Rohit Sharma as the full-time Test captain starting with India's Test tour of England, a five-Test series starting on June 20 at Headingley.

Gill's ascension, it is understood, has become inevitable after it became apparent that Jasprit Bumrah, who was the vice-captain of the Test team on India's Test tour of Australia, and led the team in the two Tests Rohit missed, is likely to miss a few Tests in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for workload management.

The squad is expected to be picked when the selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, meets later this month. With that series kicking off the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for India, it is understood that the selectors want a captain with a long-term view in mind, making Gill, 25, the preferred option.

The question of Rohit's successor in the Test side cropped up once he announced his decision to retire from the format on Wednesday. Bumrah is the designated vice-captain of the Test team, and led in two of the five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, in December 2024 and January 2025, when Rohit had missed out - he was at home for the birth of his child for the first Test of the series, and "stood down" for the last.

But ESPNcricinfo understands that Bumrah's workload as the all-format spearhead of India's fast-bowling attack as well as the fact that he has only recently returned from a stress-related discomfort in his lower back - picked up during that final Test in Australia - after missing the initial few matches of IPL 2025, has been a concern for the team management and selectors.

Of the players who were part of the set-up in the Sydney Test - the last time India played in the format - KL Rahul has led in three Tests in the past, and Virat Kohli was the long-term captain before Rohit took charge.

Gill has never led in Test matches or ODIs, but has led the team in five T20Is, all on a tour of Zimbabwe in mid-2024 when he was named captain of a side that missed several first-choice players following India's victory in the preceding T20 World Cup.

That Gill was being groomed for the top job has been mentioned in various circles over the past few months, and his performance as batter and captain of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing IPL season has been impressive. Gill took over the leadership of the team in 2024 after Hardik Pandya, who had led them to the title in their maiden season (2022) and the final the following year, left to rejoin Mumbai Indians (MI). IPL 2024 didn't go well for GT, but they have been one of the best performing teams this season.

Gill has been a regular in the India Test team since making his debut in Melbourne in December 2020, when he scored 45 and 35 not out against a full-strength Australia bowling attack in a Test India won by eight wickets under Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy. He has played 32 Tests overall, scoring 1893 runs at an average of 35.05 with five centuries and seven half-centuries.