Gill or Bumrah as captain? Sai Sudharsan at No. 3? And what of Kuldeep?

The Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not only opened vacancies for their batting slots, but also given Indian cricket an opportunity to address questions of critical importance, including the captaincy. The upcoming five-match Test series against England, from June 20 to August 4, then, is hugely significant. ESPNcricinfo looks at the questions the Ajit-Agarkar-led selection panel, which is expected to meet on May 19, will discuss as Indian cricket enters a new era.

Shubman Gill is the frontrunner, but Jasprit Bumrah is in the race as well. Some even believe that KL Rahul is a wildcard. Gill, 25, has received favourable assessments from his peers, the selectors and India's coaching staff, who collectively believe he is growing into a composed and assured player. Even if his batting overseas is still in its development phase, everyone agrees Gill has all the attributes to grow and become a long-term leader.

Bumrah, on the other hand, has proved he can lead by example and gain respect from his players. He first captained India in the fifth Test against England in 2022, and then in the first and fifth Tests of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bumrah, though, doesn't have his own back (pun intended), with stress-related issues in the lower back forcing him to undergo surgery two years ago, and, in January, end his Australia tour early, on day two of the Sydney Test. He returned to action in the IPL after missing the Champions Trophy, and the medical advice for Bumrah is not to play every match in a long Test series like the one in England.

There is also a left-field option available to the selectors: appoint Bumrah as the captain with Gill as his deputy, with Gill taking over the captaincy each time Bumrah doesn't play.

Rahul's success in Australia, which forced Rohit to bat in the middle order, means the former is set to be the frontrunner to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. In Australia, Rahul was originally picked as an extra batter for a middle-order role. While it is likely that he remains an option for both opening and middle-order roles again, Rahul has good numbers as an opener in England.

Among the batters expected to tour England, Rahul is the most experienced. He has played nine Tests there over two series - first in 2018 and then in 2021-22 - and has opened in all but one of them, scoring 597 runs, including two centuries, at an average of 37.31.

Abhimanyu Easwaran and B Sai Sudharsan are likely to be the other favourites for the opening slot, or go on tour as reserve openers. Vastly experienced and successful at domestic level, with over 100 first-class matches, Easwaran, 29, plays for Bengal, and has travelled as a reserve opener on several Test tours in the past. That includes replacing Mayank Agarwal on the 2021 tour of England. He is, however, yet to make his Test debut.

Sai Sudharsan, the Tamil Nadu left-hand batter, has also impressed the selectors since scoring a century on first-class debut in 2022, and continuing to develop as an opener. Sai Sudharsan has also been among the best young top-order batters in the IPL, where he plays for Gujarat Titans. He has also represented Surrey in county cricket, and scored a century for them, although he had batted in the middle order then. Overall, as an opener in first-class cricket, Sai Sudharsan has scored 1397 runs in 33 innings at an average of 42.33 with four centuries.

Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan are both part of the India A squad that will tour England for two first-class matches before the Test series, with Easwaran named as captain.

As Cheteshwar Pujara told ESPNcricinfo, there is no ready replacement to take up the No. 4 slot, which Kohli took over from Sachin Tendulkar in 2013. Kohli had never batted at No. 4 in Tests before that, but made the slot his own. Kohli proved, then, that experience of batting at that position really doesn't matter as long as you have the pedigree. Currently, Rahul and Gill could be the top contenders for that position.

After Kohli pulled out of the home series against England last year, Rahul batted at No. 4 in the first Test in Hyderabad, and made 86 and 22, before missing the remainder of the series due to injury.

As for Gill, while he has never batted at No. 4 in Tests, he has strong numbers there for India A: in three innings, he has scored 287 runs, including a 204*, at an average of 143.50. However, in case Rahul opens and Gill moves down from his usual No. 3 slot to No. 4, then Sai Sudharsan could be looked at as the No. 3.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the fourth-leading run-scorer in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and scored a memorable maiden Test century in front of a nearly-full MCG. Reddy, Easwaran and Harshit Rana were the three uncapped picks on that tour.

Picked as an allrounder, Reddy grabbed headlines for his belligerent batting even as he admitted he did not stand up to the task as a bowler. However, in England, if Reddy could find some purchase in seaming conditions, he becomes an attractive choice to bat in the lower order and double up as the fifth bowling option.

Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur, showed his prowess with both ball and bat in a strong finish to the Ranji Trophy just before the start of the IPL. He could be another option the selectors might ponder over as a bowling allrounder or even as a travelling reserve. Thakur, 33, has played four of his 11 Tests in England, including the World Test Championship final defeat to Australia at The Oval in 2023. Thakur, though, would retain better memories of the venue during India's win in 2021, where his half-centuries in both innings proved vital.

Reddy and Thakur have both found places in the India A squad touring England.

A five-match Test series calls for a bigger fast-bowling pool. That becomes even more crucial because of the fitness issues of Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, which makes it unlikely that either of them features in all five Tests. Apart from those two and Mohammed Siraj, the contenders among the fast bowlers are M Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Rana, and the left-arm trio of Khaleel Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh and Yash Dayal.

The England tour will be India's first full Test series after R Ashwin's retirement midway through the Australia tour. With the selectors likely to include at least one spinner other than Ravindra Jadeja, in the squad, they could have an interesting choice to make. One option is Washington Sundar, who was recalled midway through the home series against New Zealand last year, and who featured in three of the five Tests in Australia, though he played more as a batting allrounder.

Will the selectors, though, consider Kuldeep Yadav, who missed the tour of Australia after undergoing hernia surgery? Kuldeep achieved significant success in India's 4-1 win against England at home in 2023-24, and was the joint-third-highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets at a strike rate of 36.05.

That was only marginally better than Ashwin (36.11), but much better than Jadeja (46.26). While Kuldeep had a forgettable experience in the Lord's Test in 2018 - only his second overseas Test - he has shown he can be a match-winner in all conditions, picking up a five-for in the Sydney Test of 2019 - and that was before he tightened his lengths, added a yard of pace, and became the rounded wristspinner of the last two years or so. Kuldeep has 56 wickets in 13 Tests at an average of 22.16 and, most impressively, a strike rate of 37.3 - the best among all spinners in Test history with at least 50 wickets.