India’s men’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, reportedly wanted Virat Kohli to become the Test captain again after the disastrous 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. According to a report by cricblogger.com, Gambhir ‘sounded
out’ Kohli for the job in the aftermath of the 3-1 series defeat, but at the same time, chief selector Ajit Agarkar was speaking to the batting talisman ‘regarding his future in the longest format’.
The report claimed that things were not well between Test skipper Rohit Sharma and Gambhir during the series, with the Mumbaikar unhappy about being asked to bat in the middle-order. The report added that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to step in to orchestrate a ‘truce’ between the two leaders, which broke when Rohit was ‘dropped’ — he claimed it was his call to sit out — for the last Test.
As it turned out, both Rohit and Kohli retired from Test cricket within days of each other in May, ahead of the Test tour of England. Rohit hung up his boots apparently after learning that he was being dropped from the Test team, while Kohli’s call came as a bigger surprise. Neither was in great batting form in the lead-up, and questions were already being raised about their importance in the 11.
Shubman Gill was then made the Test captain and led India to a 2-2 series draw in England.
Kohli, Rohit still fighting for ODI places
Kohli and Rohit will now be seen in action in the ODI series against England, which begins on July 14. While currently they are near-guaranteed starters, the pressure is only going to increase.
Both clearly want to play the 2027 ODI World Cup, and all the talk from now until then would be about their age and how it is affecting their performance. So, every match or series they get to play, the two legends would need to prove themselves.
