Rohit Could Continue As Test Captain But Opinions Still Divided In BCCI

The triumphant run in the UAE has certainly given the skipper breathing space and elbow room.

The national selection committee hasn't yet decided on the England series.

Source : PTI

The Champions Trophy triumph has added to the aura of Rohit Sharma and it won't be a surprise if he travels to England as the leader of the pack even though the selectors are yet to make a decision on the Test tour starting June 20.

It is understood that a consensus has not been reached on Rohit as an automatic choice for captaincy. Jasprit Bumrah's fitness status is an issue and so does the lack of a distinct leadership prospect in the next line of young Indian players.

Rohit was under pressure to perform in Dubai, as a 1-3 series defeat in Australia accentuated his own poor form. But the triumphant run in the UAE has certainly given the skipper breathing space and elbow room.

But the question remains if the national selection committee will consider success in ODI format while deciding on the more challenging Test format, where the returns have been modest of late.

The team suffered six hard-to-digest defeats in the last World Test Championship cycle.

The new cycle for India will begin with the England series, where the first Test will be played at the Leeds.

"Technically, Rohit remains the Test captain. He voluntarily benched himself from the last Test in Sydney where he explained that a team can't carry on with multiple out of form batters.

"After Australia Tests, India haven't played any Tests and hence there has been no change in Test captaincy. Also Rohit never said he doesn't want to play Tests," a BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

However, he added that the national selection committee hasn't yet decided on the England series.

"The selection committee gets a break during IPL. Obviously with all matches televised, they always don't need to travel unless they have some specific strategy or they want to watch a particular player from up close," the source added.

"So once IPL starts, the blueprint for England series will be drawn at some point. But (coach) Gautam Gambhir's view point will have a lot of weightage," he added.

It is an open secret that Gambhir is a firm believer in current form and if one takes that parameter into account, it would be interesting if the Indian captain enjoys the vote of confidence of the head coach.

Gambhir has always propagated the "team-first" policy and everyone associated with Indian cricket knows that he believes in looking at the bigger picture, which is to prepare the core of the Test team for the next three to four years.

But for any decision to reach its logical conclusion, the head coach and chairman of selection committee Ajit Agarkar need to be on the same page. 

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