Jasprit Bumrah breaks his silence on captaincy snub in white-ball teams

Jasprit Bumrah has captained India in one Test match and two T20Is.

India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has opened up on not being given the captaincy of the national side in any format yet. The senior seamer expressed that fast bowlers can make good captains but underlined the fact that he is not on the park in all games due to rest and workload management.

The India T20I captaincy went to Suryakumar Yadav following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the shortest format after he led the side to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 trophy.

Hardik Pandya was the strongest candidate for the role, as he was the vice-captain during the T20 World Cup. However, with Hardik’s fitness being a concern, the new coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar decided to hand Suryakumar the captaincy. Rohit remains the Indian skipper in the other two formats for now.

I cannot go to the team and tell, now you have to make me captain: Jasprit Bumrah

Apart from being arguably the best fast bowler in the world, Jasprit Bumrah has a sharp and astute brain with a great understanding of the game.

Bumrah has been in the leadership group for the past couple of years. He has led India in one Test match and two T20Is.

Speaking recently with The Indian Express, Bumrah said, “I cannot go to the team and tell, now you have to make me captain. It is above my pay grade. I feel the bowlers are the smart people, as we have to get the batters out. We are always fighting the odds as the ground are shorter, the bats are better.“

The general notion has been that fast bowlers shouldn’t be made captains. However, Bumrah pointed at Pat Cummins, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan – three World Cup-winning captains – to make his case.

“Fighting the odds make you a lot braver, leadership needs you to be brace. We have seen Pat Cummins doing really well. I have seen Wasim Akram captaining. Kapil Dev and Imran Khan have won a World Cup. Bowlers are the smart ones. Sometimes, physically it is stressful, that’s why leadership goes to batters. In my opinion, bowlers are the smart ones,” Bumrah asserted.

Jasprit Bumrah is rested from the tour of Sri Lanka. He is expected to return during the home Test series against Bangladesh.

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