Only two days remain for the first India vs Australia Test in Perth. It is all but certain that Rohit Sharma will not lead the side as he is in India for personal reasons. Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side in his place. According to a report in Indian Express, the Gautam Gambhir-coached side will go with only one spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin. It is also likely to go with three pacers and a fast bowling all rounder in Nitish Reddy, who has not yet played Tests for India.
The fact that Australia have left-handers like Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Alex Carey tilt the scale in Ashwin’s favour. Apart from Ashwin, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and spin-allrounder Washington Sundar are in the squad too.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Meanwhile, Bowling coach Morne Morkel has branded A-Lister Jasprit Bumrah as a “natural leader” before he walks for the toss to captain India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series opener against Australia in Perth.
With Rohit Sharma set to miss the first Test of the highly-anticipated series, Bumrah will take the role of skipper. The 30-year-old was appointed as Bumrah’s deputy when the squad was unveiled.
When reports started to suggest Rohit being sidelined for the opening Test, Bumrah emerged as the ideal candidate to take up the role. This will be the second instance of Bumrah leading the side following his spell in 2022 against England.
With Bumrah spearheading the pace attack and the team, Morkel believes that the star pacer will excel in both roles.
“Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah] was a guy who immediately put his hand up, and he wanted that leadership role. He’s been very successful here in the past. He knows what to expect. In the dressing room, he speaks well. And he’s a guy who I know that, with the ball in hand, will lead from the front and then the rest of the younger guys will follow,” Morkel said in a press conference ahead of the opening Test on Friday.
With ANI inputs
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