Rohit Sharma to be removed as India's Test captain: Report
5
5
Next Stay
Playback speed
1x Normal
Back
0.25x
0.5x
1x Normal
1.5x
2x
5
5
/
Skip
Ads by
Live Events
Rohit Sharma is set to be removed as India's Test captain ahead of the five-Test tour to England in June, reported Indian Express.The Indian team will kickstart the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a new leader whose first responsibility will be to lead the team in the five-match Test series against England starting from June 20.As per the report, the selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar has decided to move past the 38-year-old. It further states that the move is not made through a desire for transition or moving past senior players but due to concerns over Rohit's performances in the format.Meanwhile, there is no clarity on Sharma's selection in the squad as a player. The report states that the opener will remain part of the team's plans in ODI cricket.The decision comes as the selection committee does not want another Australia-like situation where the batter opted out of the fifth Test after a poor run of form. He scored just 31 runs in six innings on the tour Downunder. With Sharma not being captain, it will allow the team to drop him from the playing XI during the series if he fails to find form.The 2023-25 cycle was the first time India failed to qualify for the WTC final, which will be played between South Africa and Australia next month. The two-time runners-up were on course for a third final before the Rohit-led team were whitewashed at home by New Zealand before being beaten 3-1 in the Boreder-Gavaskar Trophy.Sharma was made the Indian Test captain in 2022 after Virat Kohli resigned from the role. The Mumbai-based batter led the team in 24 matches in which he won 12 and lost nine with three draws.It is unclear who will replace Sharma for the top job. While Jasprit Bumrah has been the vice-captain for a while, his fitness issues have put his escalation to captaincy in doubt. Shubman Gill has been the vice-captain in ODIs.Rohit averages 40.57 from 67 Tests. That drops to 31.01 in Tests outside India. He averages 24.38 in Australia and 16.63 in South Africa but the average jumps to 44.66 in England, where India play next. As an opener, he averages nearly the same (44.54) in Tests in England.With Rohit still the ODI captain, the move to move past him in Test cricket means that India will have a different captain in each format as Suryakumar Yadav is leading the national team in T20Is.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Carlsen takes lead at GCT 2025 Zagreb; Gukesh struggles in blitz after topping rapid section
Reigning world champion D. Gukesh struggled on day four of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 Rapid & Blitz, taking place in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday. After finishing on top after the rapid section and storming to a three-point lead, the 19-year-old was unable to get going in the first nine blitz rounds. Of the nine games, Gukesh lost the first five on the trot, including to current tournament leader Magnus Carlsen, before managing to secure a draw against Anish Giri. His first win came against Fabiano Caruana in the eighth round. With one win, one draw, seven losses and collecting only 1.5 points, Gukesh slumped to third with a total of 15.5 points. Meanwhile, Carlsen, who finished third after the rapid, secured six wins and three draws, to top the table with 17.5 points. Jan-Krzysztof Duda held on to second place with 16 points. Another Indian in the fray, R. Praggnanandhaa, was joint-fourth heading into the blitz rounds — he won two games, drew five and lost two, finishing with 3.5 points for the day and 13.5 overall to secure fifth. The final day of the blitz section will take place on Sunday, July 6. The player with the most points combined at the end of the final day will win the overall title.
Indian Express
17 minutes ago
- Indian Express
England play run-wala Test cricket, says Akash Deep; India all set to outrun them
After Day 3 of the Test at Birmingham, Indian pacer Akash Deep had simplified England's revolutionary brand of aggressive cricket where 'draw' was taboo. He commented on his rival team's tactics when he was asked a question about the surprisingly slow and dead England pitches. 'When I landed here, I thought there would be swing and seam movement in England but that was not to be. Yeh log aise his wicket bunaate hai, yeh run-wala Test cricket khelte hain. (These guys are making these kinds of wickets, they are playing Test cricket that's about run-making),' he said. At Edgbaston, on a mostly dead pitch that was conducive to Bazball, India would beat England at their own game. In the second innings, Shubman Gill refused to declare, they stretched their lead frustratingly long so much that England would need to score 536 on the final day. Just last year at Rajkot when the two teams met, England needed 557 in the final innings to win. There was the usual England bravado, they said 'we can even chase down 800'. England folded for 122 and lost the game by 434 runs. No batsman tried to play a draw, everyone wanted to chase down the impossible total. Unlike in 2024, England this time is having second thoughts. They are using the 'draw' word. England's assistant Marcus Trescothick, a classic Test opener, defended the team's Bazball approach but also gave a rather pragmatic option. 'I think if you get to the point where you can draw the game, of course, we're not stupid enough to understand that you have to just win or lose. There are three results possible in every game that you play. But we have done some things in our time that we are different to what we've done before,' he went to say. He also asked if there will come a point in the game where he will ask his players to shelve their aggressive shots and play the draw? 'I don't think we use that sort of language. That's not the sort of changing room we are. But we're not naive enough to know that it's a very challenging total. So you go there and bunker and just dig it out – some players may do that. You just don't really know. It's individuals that can sort of adapt to the game and understand what's happening,' he said. The former England opener said that 'all three results are possible in every game that you play'. But after that he went on to add: 'We have done some things in our time that are different to what we've done before. Well, I think you could see from our first innings, we were three down overnight. We came out the next day, obviously we lost a couple of early wickets and then we had a monster partnership that really sort of put us back into the game. So it's definitely possible. I think once the ball goes softer, it definitely gets a little bit easier and hasn't seem as much as what it does when it's new.' That was England being ambitious again. Yesterday it was England coach Jeetan Patel talking about chasing impossible targets and now Trescothick hinting at the possibility. India's all-rounder was asked about Jeetan's 'we don't do draw' statement to which he had said: 'In press conference, you can talk whatever you want to talk. That's none of my business. But, at the end of the day, you have to go out there and perform and take those 20 wickets. That's all that matters.'
India Today
20 minutes ago
- India Today
Watch: England's Harry Brook cheekily tries to force Shubman Gill to declare
England's Harry Brook brought a moment of humour to an intense Day 4 of the Edgbaston Test as he cheekily tried to convince India captain Shubman Gill to declare the innings early. With Gill in sublime form and India's lead surging past 550, Brook was caught on the stump mic saying, 'Declare on 450, it's going to rain tomorrow!' — a sly joke delivered with a smile, but one that hinted at real concerns in the England however, was in no mood to oblige. The Indian skipper was batting on a different level, scoring a fluent and dominant 161 off 162 balls. After a cautious start in the morning, he switched gears post-lunch and took control of the innings. Supported by handy contributions from Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, India ended their second innings on 427, setting England a mammoth target of vs IND 2nd Test Day 4 UpdatesWatch the video:Fancy a declaration, skipper? #HarryBrook's playful banter with #ShubmanGill had everyone in splits —Trying to charm the Indian captain into a cheeky call? #ENGvIND 2nd TEST, Day 4 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 5, 2025 As the scoreboard kept ticking and fans waited for the declaration, the decision kept getting pushed. At one stage, it looked like Gill's dismissal might trigger it — but India sent in Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar instead. The cameras even caught the Indian bowlers still in their jumpers, relaxed and the declaration came with around 16 overs left in the day, and India struck quickly to remove three of England's top-order batters. Still, with rain forecast for Day 5 in Birmingham, Brook's comment now carries more weight than just banter. It raised the question on many minds — did India declare too late?History doesn't favour teams setting targets over 600 in Tests. This is only the second time India have done so, with the previous instance in 2009 ending in a draw. While England's Bazball era has seen them chase big totals, 608 is a bridge too far — but not if rain plays spoilsport and saves them.- Ends
