Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that while ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah would have been the obvious choice for him as Test captain after his leadership and individual performance in Australia, he doesn’t want him at the helm because, in that case, the bowler in him takes a blow. In Bumrah‘s absence, any hopes of India winning the final Test against Australia went up in smoke, but that particular injury dealt a telling blow to his chances of becoming India’s long-term Test skipper as well. Bumrah, now 31, is in a situation where permanent India leadership might just look like a distant dream, and, according to reports, it will be difficult for him to play five consecutive Tests in England starting next month. “See, for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I don’t want Jasprit to be made captain, and then you lose him as a bowler. I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time,” Shastri said while speaking on the latest episode of ICC Review. “He’s coming back now after a serious injury. He’ll have played IPL, which is four overs. Now will come the test of bowling 10 overs, 15 overs. And the last thing you want is some pressure on his mind being captain as well,” Shastri added. Rather than adding strain to Bumrah, Shastri backed Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as potential prospects to take over the leadership, with their age and longevity key factors behind this choice. Head coach Gautam Gambhir’s presence in Mumbai, for offering puja at the Siddhivinayak Temple, had the rumour mills working overtime that Gill is still not a done deal for the captaincy. “You groom somebody, and I would say Shubman’s looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He’s 25, 26 years of age, give him time. There’s Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I’m looking at because of their age, and they have a decade ahead of them,” Shastri said. The former India head coach stressed the fact that with Rohit Sharma and ace batter Virat Kohli’s retirement from Tests, India have to look forward to the future, further justifying Gill or Pant as his choices for the role. “They’ve got experience as captains, now, captaining their franchise, and that makes a difference. The little I’ve seen of Shubman looks very interesting. Composed, calm, he has all the qualities,” Shastri said. The former India head coach quashed concerns over Gill’s form overseas as well. The latter has an average of 29.5 in away Tests. “You people will talk, he’s not scored runs overseas. You know, that topic always comes up, not scoring runs overseas. Sometimes I tell them, Go and see your record, how much have you done overseas?” Shastri asked. Gill has served as the Indian vice-captain in the ODI team and even led India in a T20I series in Zimbabwe. “He has a decade of cricket ahead of him for the country. And I’m sure he’ll get cracking in one of the tours, he’ll make up for all those runs he’s not got on earlier,” Shastri said.