Jasprit Bumrah breaks his silence on test captaincy, reveals why he opted out of the role

Jasprit Bumrah has captained India in three tests.

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has shed lights on why he opted out of captaincy of the Indian Cricket Team in test cricket. Notably, Bumrah was the vice-captain of India in tests under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. The right-arm pacer also led the Indian team in three test matches. He made his test captaincy debut against England in 2022 and then captained India in two test matches against Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Down Under.

Following Sharma’s retirement from test cricket last month, Bumrah was considered one of the good options to lead the test side by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). However, the senior pacer opted out of the leadership role and the BCCI went ahead with Shubman Gill as the new test skipper.

Moreover, they also named Rishabh Pant as the new vice-captain replacing Bumrah. Gill is set to lead India in the upcoming five-match test series against England. Bumrah is also part of the squad and will lead India’s pace attack during the away tour.

Jasprit Bumrah reveals why he opted out of test captaincy

During an interview with former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports, Bumrah broke his silence on opting out of captaincy in the longest format of the game. The 31-year-old revealed that he made the decision to manage his workload during India’s tour of England 2025 and all five-match test series in future.

He also added that he informed BCCI that he won’t be available for all five tests against England before Sharma and Kohli’s retirement.

“Before Rohit and Virat retired during the IPL, I had spoken to the BCCI about my workloads going forward in a five-test match series. I’ve spoken to the people who have managed my back. I’ve spoken to the surgeon as well, who’s always spoken to me about how smart you have to be about the workloads,” he said.

“So I did speak to him, and then we came to the conclusion that I have to be a little smarter. So then I called the BCCI and said I don’t want to be looked at in a leadership role because I won’t be able to give all the Test matches in a five-test match series,” the Indian pacer added.

Bumrah also feels that it wasn’t fair for the team to have two different captains during the five-match test series against England.

“Yes, the BCCI was looking at me for leadership. But then I had to say, no, that it’s not fair for the team as well, that, you know, a five-Test match series, three matches, somebody else is leading, two matches, somebody else is leading. It’s not fair to the team. And I always wanted to put the team first,” he further said.

Notably, Bumrah underwent a back surgery in March 2023 and was out of the field for almost 11 months from September 2022 to August 2023. He featured in all five games in India’s last test series, which was against Australia. However, he sustained an injury and had to miss the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 later. Bumrah is a regular member of the national side across all three formats.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.