“What he said is not wrong” – Aakash Chopra on Sunil Gavaskar asking for Jasprit Bumrah to be made captain instead of Rohit Sharma for BGT 2024-25

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has concurred with Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion that vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah should be made captain for the whole Border-Gavaskar series against Australia if Rohit Sharma goes on to miss the first two Test matches due to personal reasons.

Gavaskar recently said that it would make more sense if Bumrah is given the captaincy bridle and Rohit plays only as a player after joining the team midway into the series.

Rohit’s captaincy has also come under the scanner after India’s 0-3 Test series loss against New Zealand despite playing at home.

“Since we don’t know when Rohit Sharma will be travelling as it’s because of personal reasons, Sunny bhai believes that if the captain is not available at the start, he shouldn’t be the captain at all. So the vice-captain you have appointed should be made the captain,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“Once the captain goes, he should play as a player because it’s wrong to start a big series without the captain. What he said is not wrong. This has a lot of merit. It has happened once, Virat Kohli captained the first match and wasn’t available for the next three matches,” Chopra added.

Meanwhile, India had faced a similar scenario on the previous tour of Australia when Virat Kohli led in the first Test but Ajinkya Rahane took over the captaincy baton for the remaining three Test matches.

“It was known beforehand itself. He played the first match and left, and Ajinkya Rahane captained after that. India lost the first match, they were all out for 36, but after that, they won in Melbourne, drew in Sydney, and broke Gabba’s pride. So it’s not that it’s happening for the first time that the captain isn’t available for the entire series. Virat has done that earlier and Rohit is not reaching there,” he observed.

Rohit could also be available for the complete series and thus the selectors haven’t yet taken the final call on the leadership.