Leg and off: Should India consider handing Test captaincy back to Virat Kohli?

As per a recent news report, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir is in favor of Virat Kohli making a return as Test captain. Rohit Sharma led the team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. However, he struggled both as captain and batter. The 37-year-old managed only 31 runs in five innings, looking totally out of sorts. India lost two of the three Tests he led in, drawing the other.

Rohit missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his second child. After struggling with the bat in the next three matches, he opted out of the final Test in Sydney. As a result, Jasprit Bumrah ended up leading the team in the first and the last Test of the series, winning one and losing the other.

With Rohit's Test spot under the scanner, vice-captain Bumrah's name started doing the rounds as India's next red-ball leader. However, according to a MyKhel report, Gambhir is keen on Kohli returning as captain.

"With the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle starting, the team needs a leader like Kohli because the next line of Test leaders is still in development. In the interim, Kohli looks like the most suited option," the website quoted a source close to the development as saying.

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Virat Kohli as Test captain? Worth another go

While Kohli quit as Test captain at the start of 2022, he remains India's most successful leader in red-ball cricket. The 36-year-old led India in 68 Tests, out of which the team won 40 and lost only 17, while 11 other matches ended in a draw. Kohli ended his captaincy stint with an impressive win percentage of 58.82.

Looking beyond just stats, the Delhi cricketer proved to be a brilliant leader, under whom the team flourished. He got the best out of a number of players by pushing them to excel. Kohli also led by example with the bat. To be fair, he was tactically not the best leader, but knew where to invest. Under him, India's fast bowling battery blossomed, while the fitness of the players also improved drastically.

It is often said that stats do not present the full picture. Having said that, it's equally true that numbers do not lie totally. Kohli's success as a leader and as a batter while captaining the Test team speaks volumes of his achievements. Bumrah might be the vice-captain of the Test team, but there are definitely concerns over his workload management. Him as full-time leader might not be a feasible option.

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A step in the backward direction?

If we look at the other side of the coin in the Test captaincy debate, one can question whether going back to Kohli as leader would be a step in a backward direction. Yes, he was brilliant as batter-captain during his stint as Test leader. However, a lot has changed since Kohli stepped down from the role in 2022.

First things first, the former India captain is well past his prime as a batter and one is not sure how long he can carry on. Since giving up captaincy, Kohli has featured in 24 Test matches in which he has scored 1,268 runs at an underwhelming average of 32.51, with just three hundreds to his name. In contrast, as skipper, he amassed 5,864 runs, averaging 54.80, with 20 centuries.

Considering the present scenario, going back to Kohli as Test captain might not be seen as a sensible move. The seasoned batter is at a stage of his career where he might not want the additional responsibility of captaincy. His focus right now would be to try and regain some batting form. There is no guarantee that Kohli will be available for the entire duration of the next WTC cycle.

Of course, the concern with regard to Bumrah's workload is a genuine one. However, India could groom someone like Rishabh Pant, who is a certainty in the Test side and can possibly lead the team for an extended period of time. There is Shubman Gill as well, but he first needs to reestablish himself in the Test team.

Finding Rohit's successor as Test captain is a tricky task and Kohli certainly is not a convincing answer to the big question.