Moeen Ali reveals who should lead Team India after Rohit Sharma’s retirement

Moeen Ali, who announced his international retirement in 2013, feels England would have a massive boost after hearing about the retirement news of two Indian batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, ahead of the England tour.

Notably, Rohit Sharma announced his decision to retire from the format on Wednesday, May 7. Later, Kohli also followed the queue, announcing his retirement via an Instagram post on Monday, May 12.

"Definitely, I think it's a massive boost for England. Two top players who've been to England a few times on tour, so they have the experience. I remember Rohit playing really well the last time they were in England. The character they have, the leaders they [are], both of them have captained India in Test cricket, so yeah a massive loss for the team," Moeen Ali told Sky Sports.

Furthermore, Moeen feels Shubman Gill, who has been a constant part of the Indian Test side at home and away games, would be the right contender to take over the captaincy. Notably, Jasprit Bumrah might not get to play all five Tests of the series as part of the workload management. 

“I think it will be Shubman Gill. Ideally they [BCCI] would want Jasprit Bumrah to captain because he is a very good captain, a good leader who has done it before,” he added.

"But because of his injury record he might not be able to last the whole series, I think they'll give it [captaincy] to somebody who's done decently so far in Test cricket. Gill leads Gujarat Titans in IPL, so they've still got a very, very good captain, inexperienced yes but a good captain and good brain, but it'll be a challenge [in England conditions]," Moeen asserted.

Later, he also asserted on Virat Kohli’s retirement, terming it a massive blow to Test cricket. He added that after Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli was the one who filled the stadiums with his amazing gameplay in the longest format of the game.

"It's [Kohli's retirement] a massive blow to Test cricket. He was the one pioneer, the one guy in Test cricket that always pushed the format. Amazing player, amazing career.

"He's done so much for the game itself, especially in India. I think after Sachin [Tendulkar], he was the guy everybody comes to watch and he filled out stadiums. Amazing record, a brilliant player to watch as well. The style he played with (was) very competitive and a brilliant captain as well. A big blow to Test cricket," he concluded.

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