Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Shubman Gill needs to prove his mettle while playing outside Asia to be considered for the captaincy role. Rohit Sharma has announced his Test retirement and as per the reports, Gill and Rishabh Pant are the front runners to take over the captaincy baton.

Chopra noted that Gill doesn’t have a promising record while playing outside the sub-continent conditions. Gill has an average of 25 outside Asia and he is yet to score a century while playing away from the continent.

It has also been reported that India’s gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has opted out of the leadership role.

“It’s been heard that Jasprit Bumrah has said that he cannot play all five Tests. If that’s true, you cannot make him the captain. You have to go in a different direction. Forget frontrunner, it seems like Shubman Gill’s appointment has happened. You will get the confirmation on May 23,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“If we see Shubman Gill’s numbers, they aren’t very good. He has an average of 35 in the last five years, which is not ideal. So it could be a massive assignment for him as you have gone with a captain who has been awesome in ODI cricket, isn’t part of the T20I team, and Test cricket is still going middling. He still has to score runs outside Asia,” he added.

Chopra noted that Rishabh Pant is likely to be appointed as India’s vice-captain in Test cricket as he has performed consistently in the red-ball version.

“It also seems like Rishabh Pant will be made the vice-captain. If you are thinking why Rishabh Pant should be made the vice-captain, if we see the journey from 2020 to 2025, Rishabh Pant is India’s highest run-scorer in Test cricket,” he said.

The opening Test between England and India will be played at Leeds, Headingley on June 20 onwards.