Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 15 : Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin gave his take on India's leadership vacuum following the retirements of senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and threw out long-time spin bowling partner Ravindra Jadeja's name as one of the choices for captaincy.
Ashwin was speaking on his Youtube Channel 'Ash ki Baat' on Thursday.
Speaking about possible captaincy contenders, Ashwin said, "There are obvious choices, but I want to throw in another name as well - Ravindra Jadeja. There is always news on who will be made captain or vice-captain, but their name should first be in the playing XI of the team. He must be an automatic selection."
"Let us not forget, Jadeja is the most experienced player in the team. He should be in the conversation. If you're willing to train a new guy for two years and then make him captain, Jadeja can do that for two years too. They (India) can even play him as vice-captain (under Jadeja)," he added.
While Jadeja has not captained India in any format, he has some leadership experience, having captained Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2022 IPL season and had poor results, just winning two out of eight matches, and, handed over captaincy mid-season back to MS Dhoni.
But still, at the age of 36, with a 13-year-old career in Tests behind him, Jadeja is the most experienced player in the team, with 3,370 runs in 80 Tests at an average of 34.74, four centuries and 22 fifties, and 323 wickets.
He also acknowledged that the most popular name as per reports, going forward for the Indian captaincy is Shubman Gill. Ashwin also made comparisons of Gill's likely appointment to the role to South African legend Graeme Smith, who took over Proteas' leadership back in 2003 at just 22 years of age.
Speaking further on Gill's potential appointment as a captain, he added, "I hope Gujarat Titans qualify for the IPL playoffs. If Gill gains honour there, it might make his transition to leadership easier."
Currently, Gill-led GT is at the top of the points table, with eight wins and three losses, giving them 16 points.
On Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy appointment under cloud due to workload and injury concerns, Ashwin said, "I am very, very upset and disappointed that Jasprit Bumrah will not get the captaincy (of India). I think he is a national treasure. Bumrah has had one major surgery. I'll be very surprised if he plays all five Tests in a series. He needs to be given breaks to recover."
Bumrah has captained India in three matches, with a win at Perth by 295 runs during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy being his crowning achievement. He has lost rest of his two games as a captain to England away from home and Australia in away conditions too.
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