In the aftermath of India’s World Test Championship final defeat against Australia, Naman Agarwal looks at six players who can succeed Rohit Sharma as India’s Test captain.

In the recently concluded World Test Championship cycle, India had as many as five different captains leading them across 19 Test matches. In the previous edition, they had just two.

Successful sides are mostly settled units with a settled leadership group that envisions plans for the team, executes them, is accountable for them, and in general takes the team forward even as there are changes to personnel around it. But when the leadership group itself is part of a game of musical chairs, things become challenging.

That India managed to come as far as they did despite this musical chair of captaincy in this WTC deserves appreciation, but the defeat in the final has opened the can of worms again. With Rohit’s age and fitness being a concern, India may have to start looking for a new Test captain soon.

Here are the six candidates that India can look towards – assuming Virat Kohli is not an option.

Rishabh Pant

Pant is currently far off from playing cricket, recovering from the life-threatening accident he suffered six months back. Before that, he was India’s best batter in Test cricket for the last couple of years. He has led Delhi in first-class cricket before turning 20; Delhi Capitals in the IPL for two seasons; and India in T20Is.

When captain Rohit and vice-captain Rahul missed last year’s Edgbaston Test match, Bumrah stepped in as captain, while Pant was named his deputy.

With the Test captain’s position potentially up for grabs going forward and no other candidate having both leadership experience and a guaranteed spot in the XI, Pant is going to be the frontrunner to take up the job when, or soon after he returns.

Jasprit Bumrah

When Bumrah made his captaincy debut for India at Edgbaston last year, he became the first specialist fast bowler to assume that role.

Unarguably India’s best fast bowler, Bumrah is known for his tactical acumen. At the same time, he is also extremely injury-prone, and has missed more matches than he has played in the last year.

Rohit has already had to miss several Test matches due to various reasons, ranging from injury to Covid-19. India would want his successor to be fit and available for most if not all games.

KL Rahul

Rahul led India in three Tests in the last WTC cycle, making his Test captaincy debut in the process. India lost the first of these, in South Africa, but swept the series in Bangladesh 2-0. Across formats, he has led India to wins in seven matches out of 11.

However, his batting has taken a downturn and he finds himself out of the Test side. Even if his persistent injury problems are set aside for the moment, the Test batting form cannot be ignored.

In an ideal world, Rahul would have been Rohit’s deputy and should have taken over as and when required, but the Indian Test team right now is as far from an ideal world as one can be.

Shubman Gill

Gill has graduated to the next level of batsmanship in 2023, and it is clear that he is going to be succeed Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli as the face of Indian cricket in the years to come.

While he does not have any leadership experience at the top level, it is hard to imagine BCCI not trying to make a captain out of Gill at some point. After all, they had elevated Tendulkar and Kohli to vice-captain reasonably early in their careers.

Kohli was able to take to it like a duck to water, while Tendulkar did not. How Gill, who wasn’t able to hide his displeasure at the decision he received in the WTC Final and used social media to vent his feelings, reacts to leadership if and when it comes to him, will be interesting to see.

Shreyas Iyer

Iyer impressed all after he was given the captaincy of Delhi Capitals at the age of 23, and was considered a serious leadership candidate for the national team as well. By the start of 2023, he had also established himself as a regular in the Test and ODI XIs.

However, frequent back injuries which can take notoriously long to completely get rid of, have meant that he has missed a lot of cricket and is not always available.

He is yet to establish himself as a Test batter outside the subcontinent, having played only once and making 34 runs in two innings. He was bounced out by a 39-year-old James Anderson in that Test match. Not promising signs.

However, if Iyer is able to re-establish himself as a Test regular, he can seriously be considered for captaincy going forward.

Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane used to be Kohli’s trusted deputy during the latter’s stint as Test captain. He has led only five times, but India have won three of the Test matches, lost none, and were a wicket away from winning one of the two drawn Test matches.

His leadership credentials are well-known, with the 2020/21 Border Gavaskar Trophy victory being the crown jewel of his captaincy stint.

He would have made a fine successor for Kohli the Test captain, but an extended run of poor form finally resulted in him being dropped from the side. He was even stripped of a central contract and currently doesn’t hold one.

However, having recalled for the WTC final, he scored 135 runs across the two innings, the most by an Indian batter. That may signal a new dawn for him.

If he is able to hold on to his place for the time being and if India need a short-term captain – much like Anil Kumble – while India groom a new, young, potential captain, Rahane can be the man.