Who will be the next captain of Team India? After the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3, this is the biggest question in the Indian cricket corridors. Captain India Rohit Sharmahaving dropped out of the last Test of the series, he boldly declared that he had simply retreated and would not go anywhere. But then India won’t play another Test until June (in England). By then the next cycle of the World Test Championship was due to begin. The question is whether the BCCI selectors will retain Rohit as captain.
Former Indian star Mohammad Kaif said BCCI should not make a ‘golden goose’ Jasprit Bumrah captain. “The BCCI should think twice before making Bumrah the permanent captain. He needs to focus solely on working out and staying in shape. The added responsibility of being a leader and getting carried away in the heat of the moment can lead to injury and shorten an outstanding career. Don’t kill the golden goose,” he wrote on X.
However, the legendary dough of India Sunil Gavaskar said he would not be surprised if the team’s leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah takes over as Test captain in the near future, noting that he does not put much pressure on the players when he is at the helm of the team. In India’s recent 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah captained the visiting team in two games, one of which was the opening match of the 295-run series in Perth. “He will be the next man up because he leads from the front. He has a very good appearance, the appearance of a leader, but he is not one of those who will put pressure on you. Sometimes you have captains who put a lot of pressure on you.
“With Bumrah, you can see that he expects others to do their job and why they are in the team, but he doesn’t seem to put pressure on anyone. With the fast bowlers he was absolutely brilliant, standing in the middle, in the middle and being there to tell them every time. I think he has been absolutely brilliant and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes over very soon,” Gavaskar said on Channel Seven on Wednesday.
In terms of performance, Bumrah was the star of the India tour, taking 32 wickets in five matches at an average of 13.06 and a strike rate of 28.37, earning him the Player of the Series award. Gavaskar felt that things might have turned out a little differently for India in Sydney if Bumrah had bowled in the fourth innings of the match.
Bumrah was unable to play in India’s defense of 162 against Australia due to a back spasm. “On the other hand, it looked a little easier and I think India probably suffered from the fact that they didn’t have a first change bowler like they did in Australia – Pat Cummins and then (Scott) Boland comes to play.
“So there was support for emerging bowlers. Bumrah, unfortunately, fought the battle alone. What a difference it would have made if Bumrah had been able to play in the last innings in Sydney. Even the early period of four or five overs, who knows how the match would have gone.”
With input from IANS
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