Ashwin suggests long-time teammate's name for India Test captaincy role
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 15 (ANI): 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. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
27 minutes ago
- The Hindu
UTT 2025: Izaac Quek aims to end Singapore's 16-year medal drought at LA 2028 Olympics
The Singaporean table tennis community has high hopes from Izaac Quek. Half of the country's six Olympic medals have come in ping pong but there has been no podium-finish since 2012. Also, all three medallists were born in China. But the 19-year-old Izaac is a Singaporean through and through. The talented youngster, who doesn't have a sports background, already made history last year in Paris as the youngest-local born player to qualify for the Olympics. 'I started playing table tennis in school at the age of 7. My family didn't play table tennis at all. I randomly chose the sport because one time, I played with my family and I really enjoyed it. To be able to come from there to qualify for the Olympics was a dream,' said Izaac, who is playing for Dabang Delhi in Season 6 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league in Ahmedabad. ALSO READ | Indian players keen to learn as Fan Siqi ends eight-year Chinese absence In his debut UTT season, Izaac - the youngest overseas player - has already impressed everyone with wins over Kanak Jha and Portuguese Tiago Apolonia. He had a nervous start against Jha but after conceding the opener to the American, he has clinched five straight games. Apolonia, who is double the age of Izaac, and the 24-year-old Jha found themselves wanting when it came to keeping up with the quick reflexes. The low center of gravity - Izaac is 172cm tall - and raw power help the Singaporean produce winning shots even from some very difficult positions. For Izaac, the current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu 'There are not many tournaments where you can team up with foreigners, fight and try to win a competition. We always see each other internationally but we are always competing against each other. Trying to adapt and playing together is a good opportunity for me,' said Izaac, describing his experience in India so far. For Izaac, having played all the major tournaments already, the next goal is to better his results at those events. The current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. 'In Singapore, for boys, two years of military training is compulsory. There are no exemptions even if I win a gold at the Olympics. I can only defer the national service. Right now, I am still in school but I'll be going for military training after the LA Olympics. So, either in late 2028 or 2029,' revealed the teenager. ALSO READ | Dabang Delhi TTC, PBG Pune Jaguars remain unbeaten after winning respective matches World No. 98 Izaac came into the national limelight after his run to the round of 16, which included wins over veterans Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sweden's Mattias Falck, at the Singapore Smash 2023. However, it's his consistency in doubles which could be crucial to the country's hopes of clinching an Olympic medal after 16 years. Izaac and Koen Pang, another local-born Singaporean, are World No. 11 in the men's doubles ITTF Rankings. They also grabbed a silver medal at the Asian Championships 2024. 'We didn't imagine reaching such a high level. We are trying to use that confidence and bring it to singles because we have a lot of room for improvement. The men's doubles are a separate event at the LA Olympics. So, me and Pang will be focussing on the doubles while also improving our singles,' said a hopeful Izaac.
Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
Vaibhav Suryavanshi: I will look to do two times better for my team in next IPL
Having left an indelible mark in his debut season itself, 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi says he will look to do two times better for his team Rajasthan Royals in next year's Indian Premier League . Suryavanshi created the record for the fastest century for any Indian in terms of balls faced (35) when he cracked 101 off only 38 balls with seven fours and 11 sixes against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur in April. The whirlwind knock helped Suryavanshi not only enter his name in record books for the second fastest century ever in IPL , he also become the youngest T20 centurion in men's T20 cricket at 14 years and 32 days. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Recessão ou vibecessão? Franklin Templeton Brazil Leia mais "Playing in the IPL is like a dream for everyone and I got a lot of positives from my first season and I also learnt a lot in terms of what I can do for the team in the next season," Suryavanshi said in a video shared by IPL's official website. Even as the Royals endured a forgettable campaign, the left-handed Suryavanshi tasted success on personal front as he was given the IPL Super Striker of the Season award after the conclusion of the final on Tuesday. Live Events "Next year, I will work on areas where I made mistakes and try to do much better for the team," he said. Talking about his learnings from the maiden season, Suryavanshi said, "My learning is that I have to do two times better than what I have done so that my team also plays in the final next year and how much I can contribute to my team, I will focus on that." Given his exploits, Suryavanshi was also named in the India Under-19 squad for a multi-format tour of England along with Mumbai's Ayush Mhatre, who made a successful debut for Chennai Super Kings. "It is a new tournament. I am going to the UK for the first time so it will be a new experience. I will experience how the game goes on there," Suryavanshi said. "Ayush Mhatre, who played for Chennai Super Kings this time, is our captain. The preparations are going well and it will be a good experience of playing in England and will try to return with the trophy," he added.
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill PC LIVE Updates: India's new Test skipper to address media ahead of ENG tour
Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill Press Conference: Follow Latest Updates Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill Press Conference Live Updates: A new era in Indian Test cricket is all set to begin after the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from red-ball cricket. With the two stalwarts out of red-ball set-up, Shubman Gill has been named the new skipper of the longest format, and after taking over the charge, he will be addressing the media for the first time on Thursday evening. The new Test captain will be accompanied by head coach Gautam Gambhir in a pre-departure press conference that has been organised before the team leaves for England to play the five-match Test series. ...Read More The big tour will also kickstart India's next World Test Championship Cycle, where they will be without the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin, who were their backbone during the first three editions of WTC and helped them reach the final twice. Gill will be India's fifth youngest Test captain after Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (21), Sachin Tendulkar (23), Kapil Dev (24) and Ravi Shastri (25). Since making his Test debut in 2020, Shubman Gill has featured in 32 matches, scoring 1893 runs at a modest average of 35, which includes five centuries and seven fifties as a top-order batter. In contrast, the 27-year-old Rishabh Pant, who is named Gill's deputy, brings more experience to the table with 43 Tests to his name. Batting lower down the order, he has amassed 2948 runs at an impressive average of 42.11, with six hundreds and 15 half-centuries since his debut in 2018. Besides Gill, Bumrah was another strong contender for captaincy but the selectors decided to hand over the leadership responsibility to the batter from Punjab. There were also questions over Bumrah's fitness and Agarkar acknowledged that the star pacer's availability for the full series is a concern. India's Squad for Test tour of England: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K L Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep singh and Kuldeep Yadav. PTI DDV BS PM MRM BS PM MRM PM Follow all the updates here: June 5, 2025 4:19 PM IST Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill Press Conference Live Updates: Hello and welcome to our live blog of Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir's press conference updates ahead of India tour of England.
