Jasprit Bumrah led India in Perth Test© AFP
The chatter around Jasprit Bumrah‘s captaincy credentials witnessed a sharp spike as the Indian team decimated Australia in the first of the 5-match series in Perth. Bumrah, leading the side in the absence of full-time captain Rohit Sharma, didn’t just produce a masterstroke as a bowler but also guided his troops to extract the desired results. India great Sunil Gavaskar, who had advocated Bumrah’s name for the entire series’ captaincy, spoke in favour of the pacer’s leadership skills again after the conclusion of the first Test.
The Perth Test was only the second instance for Bumrah as India’s skipper in the longest format of the game. While Rohit has shown no signs of stepping down anytime soon, the pacer has unarguably emerged as the biggest candidate to take up the job when that happens.
Though there are some who suggest pace bowlers can’t be good captains, Gavaskar isn’t buying the ‘bakwas‘ by any means.
“He’s only 30. So yes, clearly, he has shown that he can handle the cares of captaincy. Today also, the way he made the bowling changes tells you that he is putting a lot of thought into all his moves and once again disproving all that, you know, Bakwas that goes on that fast bowlers aren’t good captains,” Gavaskar told India Today in an interview after the Perth Test.
Gavaskar gave his vote of confidence to Bumrah ‘the leader’ while also citing examples of Kapil Dev and Imran Khan who have led their sides to big achievements in the past.
“In our subcontinent itself, we’ve got Imran Khan, the fast bowler who’s been a fabulous captain. And we’ve got Kapil Dev, two top-class captains, excellent captains, so fast bowlers can also make good captains,” Gavaskar added.
Bumrah was asked about the captaincy situation in the post-match press conference on Monday. The stand-in skipper clarified that Rohit Sharma is the full-time captain of the team and he will lead the side in the remainder of the series.
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