Report makes stunning claim that Gautam Gambhir is in favor of Virat Kohli leading the Indian Test team again

Under the Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir captain-coach combo, India lost the Border-Gavakasar Trophy Test series in Australia by a 3-1 margin. The visitors won the first Test in Perth under Jasprit Bumrah's leadership but did not have much to cheer during the tour after that. After managing only 31 runs in five innings, Rohit opted out of the last Test in Sydney.

In the wake of his poor showing as captain and batter Down Under, a number of experts and fans reckon that Bumrah should lead India during their next Test assignment, which will be a five-match series in England beginning in June. However, as per a report in MyKhel, Gambhir is in favor of Virat Kohli being appointed Test captain again instead of Bumrah taking over the mantle.

"Coach Gautam Gambhir has backed the idea of Virat leading the Test team again. But he is yet to clear his stance officially," the report quoted a source close to the development as saying.

"Team India has done well under the aggressive captaincy of Virat, especially in overseas conditions. 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 source went on to add.

Regarding Bumrah's captaincy, the report claimed that while the fast bowler was impressed with his leadership in Australia, the selectors were hesitant to make him a full-time leader as they wanted to manage his workload. It is no secret that Bumrah has had his fair share of injury concerns. In fact, he is presently recovering from a back issue, which he picked up in Australia.

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Kohli is India's most successful captain in Test cricket

If we go purely by stats, Kohli is India's most successful captain in the Test format. He led the team in 68 matches out of which India won 40 and lost 17. The other 11 matches ended in a draw. The 36-year-old ended his Test captaincy stint with an impressive win percentage of 58.82.

Looking at his batting record as captain in Test matches, the right-hander scored 5,864 runs at an average of 54.80, with as many as 20 hundreds and 18 half-centuries. His career-best of 254* came against South Africa in Pune in 2019. Kohli, however, has been short of runs lately. In 2024, he scored 417 runs in 19 Test innings at an average of 24.52.