It’s a raging debate. Should Jasprit Bumrah be named as the full-time India Test captain? Or should the team management punt on someone younger, say Shubman Gill? Nearly a month remains before India kickstart their next ICC World Test Championship cycle with a five-match series in England and the selection committee is set to meet in the coming days to pick a squad for what promises to be a tough tour. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma quitting Test cricket, the touring party will be shorn off their rich experience and thus whoever gets the top job, will have his task cut out. Given the status quo, Bumrah appears to be the likely successor given he’s the designated Test vice-captain and has led India whenever Rohit wasn’t available – more recently during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. However, there’s increasing concern over the fast bowler’s fitness and availability for the entirety of the England tour. Bumrah suffered a back injury towards the end of Australia tour earlier this year which pushed him to the sidelines for a significant period. It was the latest setback for the India pace spearhead whose participation has often been limited in recent times due to various fitness issues. The team management is likely to manage is workload going forward to ensure he doesn’t suffer another injury blow and therefore, will be rested during the five-match Test series in England. Keeping these factors in mind, former India allrounder and batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that Bumrah may not become the next Test captain with the team management set to use the same benchmark as they did when picking Suryakumar Yadav for T20I captaincy ahead of Hardik Pandya despite the latter’s leadership credentials. “The yardstick which was taken for Hardik Pandya when Suryakumar was named T20I captain – the reasoning there was that Hardik has fitness issues, he may not be available. Hence, we are looking at a player who is guaranteed a place in the playing XI. That’s how Surya was elevated to the T20I captaincy,” Bangar said on ESPNcricinfo. “Now, if we equate that thought process with Test captaincy as well, on that basis, Jasprit may have to miss out,” he added. Bangar suggests that KL Rahul could lead the team in the upcoming WTC cycle. “He’s (Rahul) been a proven test batter, (scored) a lot of important runs at the top of the order for India. So, he would play all the Test matches (in England), and most of his hundreds or big scores have come in overseas matches,” Bangar said. “So there is no question mark on his ability in any conditions, for that matter. And he is young, he is not that old either. So when you are looking at a WTC cycle, it is a two-year cycle. I think Rahul at the moment is 31, 32. He can clearly play the entire cycle,” he added.