Dubai, May 17 (PTI) Former India coach Ravi Shastri says Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are ideal candidates to captain India in the Test format, given that they have age on their side and already have the experience of leading IPL sides.

Shastri also feels that Jasprit Bumrah would have been an obvious choice for the leadership role in the traditional format but for his fitness issues, the pacer should be protected from the additional burden.

“See for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don’t want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler,” Shastri said on the latest episode of the ICC Review with Bumrah’s wife Sanjana Ganesan.

The selectors will have to pick a new Test captain following the recent retirement of Rohit Sharma.

India’s next assignment is a five-match series against England, starting June 20 at Leeds. Bumrah, 31, struggled with a back injury sustained in the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy match in Sydney. He was out of action for nearly three months — early January until April — and missed India’s Champions Trophy winning campaign.

Bumrah returned to play in the IPL after missing a few initial games and has since taken 13 wickets in eight games for Mumbai Indians.

“I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He’s coming back now after a serious injury. He’ll have played IPL cricket, which is four-over cricket. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs (in Tests). And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well.” With Gill and Pant in their 20s, Shastri feels the board should look at the key factors like age and longevity to decide on the future India skipper.

Gill is leading Gujarat Titans while wicket-keeper and attacking batter Pant is captaining Lucknow Super Giants.

“You groom somebody and I would say Shubman’s looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He’s 25, 26 years of age, even give him time,” Shastri said.

“There’s Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I’m looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them. So, let them learn. They’ve got experience as captains, now, captaining their (IPL) franchise and that makes a difference,” he added.

Shastri said that Gill’s calm demeanour makes him a good choice to lead India.

“The little I’ve seen of Shubman looks very interesting. Composed, calm, he has all the qualities,” said Shastri about the No.1-ranked batter in the ICC ODI Player Rankings.

He also quashed concerns over Gill’s form overseas, saying his class and calibre will come to the fore on foreign tours sooner or later.

“You people will talk he’s not scored runs overseas. You know, that topic always comes, not scored runs overseas.

“Sometimes I tell them, go and see your own record, how much have you done overseas? Overseas, overseas, let him play, let him get a run overseas, then he’ll score runs. He’s a class player. He has a decade of cricket ahead of him for the country,” Shastri said.

“And I’m sure he’ll get cracking in one of the tours, he’ll make up for all those runs he’s not got on earlier.” PTI

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