Former India player Aakash Chopra has added that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant could be in the race to be India’s future Test captain as well. He said that Shubman Gill, who was apparently being groomed for the role, seems to no longer be in the race now as well. Notably, India suffered a 1-3 defeat against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test series as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant – which of the two can become the captain? It’s a beautiful question because, as per sources, Rohit has said that he will manage the team for a few months, but after that, you (the BCCI) can find whoever you want, and since there could be an injury issue with Bumrah, it’s your wish.”
“I had a solution that we should see after six months. If Jasprit Bumrah captains the entire England tour, appoint a vice-captain properly because you have to groom him. Let’s be very honest, when we won the T20 World Cup, it seemed like the grooming process was going very well. Everything looked fine. Shubman Gill was being made the vice-captain. He was regularly being assigned that role and then suddenly Shubman Gill was dropped. So pressure was put on him as to what was happening as he is potentially not coming in the captaincy thoughts and is not coming in the T20 format at all,” Chopra added.
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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also shared that while Rishabh Pant seemed to be in the race, reports also suggest that the team management wasn’t happy with his approach during BGT 2024-25. He also named Shubman Gill and then Pant as his preferred
captaincy candidates as well.
“Then you wonder whether Rishabh Pant could be the captain. They had started thinking about Rishabh Pant but then, of course, that accident happened. Then he comes back and he is thought about, but then the reports came amid BGT that this approach won’t work, it’s enough. So forget Rishabh Pant as a captain, he is a player who cannot be depended upon,” he said.
“Then it came out that Yashasvi Jaiswal might be a horse in the vice-captaincy race. I am saying – is it not too early? Long term, maybe yes, Yashasvi Jaiswal might be India’s captain five years from now, and I will be happy for him, a wonderful kid, but it is too early. Let the kid play. Let him mature properly. There is no thumb rule that he cannot be made the captain but it will be too early. It seems like one camp is saying Rishabh Pant and the other is saying Yashasvi Jaiswal. If you want to choose one of the three, I will definitely go towards Shubman Gill, and go towards Rishabh Pant, and lastly go towards Yashasvi. Let the kid play with freedom for the next two or three years,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
