On Saturday, the Ajit Agarkar-led Indian selection committee announced India’s Test squad for the England tour. Since Rohit Sharma recently announced his retirement from Test cricket, the captaincy baton had to be handed over to a new leader. Shubman Gill was one of the frontrunners, and as expected, he has been appointed as the 37th captain of the Indian Test team.
But is he really the perfect choice to lead Team India in the longest format? Or did India miss out on better, more deserving candidates? Let’s look at three players who might have been stronger options than Shubman Gill to lead India in Tests.
1. Ajinkya Rahane
While it’s true that Ajinkya Rahane has been out of the Indian Test squad since July 2023, his captaincy career has remained highly underrated. Between 2017 and 2021, he led India in six Test matches, in which India won four including the iconic Gabba victory in 2021. Under him, India didn’t lose a single match as the remaining two games ended in draws.
Despite this remarkable record, the selectors have only viewed him as a standby captain. Recently, Rahane has performed well in domestic cricket, both as a captain and as a player. Additionally, in IPL 2025, he led Kolkata Knight Riders in 12 matches, scoring 375 runs at an average of 37.
The upcoming England series is a crucial one, and Rahane could have been entrusted with the leadership. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill or another young candidate could have been groomed under his guidance for the future.
2. Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer is another name who has been sidelined from Test team after a brief backing. His Test career has been decent so far. 811 runs in 14 matches with 1 century, 5 fifties, and an average of nearly 37 is not a poor record. With Virat Kohli’s retirement from the No. 4 spot, Iyer’s skill set could have been the ideal replacement for India in that position.
Over the last few years, Iyer has emerged as a strong leader. His captaincy record in the IPL is quite impressive. He remains the only captain to have led Delhi Capitals to an IPL final (2020), guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win in 2024, and in IPL 2025, he led Punjab Kings to the playoffs after 11 long years.
He is in good form, has returned to BCCI’s annual contract list, and is currently at his captaincy peak. This could have been the perfect time to hand him the leadership role in Test cricket. While Shubman Gill has shown promise as a captain in IPL, his achievements in Test cricket so far haven’t been extraordinary enough to justify giving him the responsibility of leading India in the longest format.
3. Rishabh Pant
Despite being sold for ₹27 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, Rishabh Pant couldn’t make a major impact in the tournament. However, Test cricket is a completely different game and that’s where Pant truly stands out. While his ODI and T20I careers have been decent, it’s in the Test format that he has established himself as an extraordinary player in just seven years.
Pant has been India’s most impactful performer in overseas conditions. He has scored centuries in Australia, England, and South Africa, a record which no other Indian wicketkeeper has ever achieved. Today, he stands among the superstars of Test cricket.
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The selectors chose Shubman Gill as captain and handed Pant the role of vice-captain. It could have been the other way around—Pant as captain, with Gill groomed under him as vice-captain. After all, wicketkeeper-captains often prove highly effective, as they have a central view of the field and are involved in every move on the ground.