Who will be the next India captain? After the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3, that is the biggest question in Indian cricket corridors. India captain Rohit Sharma, after dropping himself from the last Test of the series, bravely declared that he just stood down and isn’t going anywhere. But then, India won’t play another Test until June (in England). By then, the next World Test Championship cycle would have started. Whether the BCCI selectors will retain Rohit as the captain is the question.
Former India star Mohammad Kaif has said that BCCI should not make ‘golden goose’ Jasprit Bumrah the captain. “BCCI shd think twice before appointing Bumrah as full time captain. He needs to solely focus on taking wkts and staying fit. Added leadership responsibility, getting carried away in heat of moment can result in injuries and shorten an outstanding career. Don’t kill the golden goose,” he wrote on X.
However, Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar said he won’t be surprised if fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah takes over as the side’s Test captain in near future, citing that he doesn’t pressurise players much when he’s been at the helm of the team. In India’s recent 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah captained the visitors’ in two games, one of which was a 295-run series opening match in Perth. “He will be the next man, because he leads from the front. He’s got a very good air about him, the air of a leader, but he’s not somebody who’s going to put pressure on you. Sometimes you have captains who put a lot of pressure on you.
“With Bumrah you can see that he expects the others to do what their job is, why they are in the national team, but he doesn’t seem to pressurise anybody. With the fast bowlers, he’s been absolutely brilliant, standing at mid-off, mid-on, and every time just being at hand to tell them. I think he was absolutely brilliant, and I won’t be surprised if he takes over very soon,” said Gavaskar on Channel Seven on Wednesday.
Performance wise, Bumrah was the star of India’s tour, picking 32 wickets in five matches at an average of 13.06 and a strike rate 28.37 to clinch Player of the Series award. Gavaskar felt things could have been slightly different in Sydney for India if Bumrah had bowled in the fourth innings of the match.
Bumrah didn’t bowl in India’s defence of 162 against Australia due to a back spasm. “From the other end, it looked a little bit easier to bat, and I think India probably suffered from the fact that they didn’t have a first-change bowler like Australia had – Pat Cummins and then (Scott) Boland coming in to bowl.
“So there was support for the opening bowlers. Bumrah, unfortunately, was pretty much fighting a lone battle. What a difference it would have made if Bumrah was available to bowl in that final innings in Sydney. Even an early spell of four or five overs, who knows which way the match would have gone.”
With IANS inputs
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