The captaincy slot in India's Test team is vacant following Rohit Sharma's retirement.
Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes that veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja could be a good choice for India captaincy in Tests. Last week, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Tests which has led the India captaincy slot in Tests vacant.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah had been once considered for captaincy but now with the Gujarat cricketer reportedly out of contention, two other names in Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant have popped up for captaincy. Ashwin termed his former teammate Jadeja as a wildcard pick for India captaincy.
India are scheduled to play five Tests against England in England from June 20 and who will become the next captain is one of the major talking points.
“There is another name I want to add to this list. That is Ravindra Jadeja. A captain has to be an automatic choice and should part of playing XI. In Australia, they elect captains based on their presentations. They call up two-three captaincy candidates, ask them to make presentations where they must explain the vision, the direction of the team and what kind of players you will back. A captain, selector or coach could make or break careers,” Ashwin said during a show on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.
“Leadership is about character. I believe, be it Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja or Jasprit Bumrah, you cannot say he is not leadership material unless you have spoken to him. Jadeja is the most experienced. They can make him the captain for 2 years. It will seem like I am throwing in a wildcard,” he added.
The Saurashtra cricketer was the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2022, but stepped down midway through the season due to a poor start. Chennai Super Kings had won just two out of the first eight games that season under Ravindra Jadeja’s captaincy.
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“He has also captained Chennai Super Kings, although that did not go well. I’m not saying he should become, but definitely he should be considered. You can also make Bumrah captain and Jaddu vice captain so that Bumrah can play 2-3 tests and Jaddu can handle the rest. But we don’t know, and I think the popular choice will be Shubman Gill,” explained the 38-year-old.
Ravindra Jadeja made his Test debut in November 2012 against England. The 36-year-old has scored 3370 runs and taken 323 wickets from 80 Tests. Recently, he set a notable record as he maintained the longest-ever reign as the number 1 all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings. He has become the No.1 all-rounder in Test for more than 1,151 days.
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