This is a very exciting time for Indian cricket. The supply line of talented players across formats appears to be very healthy, with a third consecutive World Test Championship final likely to complete a hat-trick of Test series wins in Australia, India being the reigning T20 World Champions and the ICC ODI and T20 Team Rankings As well as second in the Test list, the IPL continues to go from strength to strength, and an Indian is again the ICC president.
However, for those of you who like to look ahead, there is no doubt that the question ‘Who should be India’s next Test captain after Rohit Sharma?’ It has come to your mind. Sometimes, in life, the obvious choice isn’t the best one. In this case, however, the obvious choice is so tempting that it’s hard to look beyond it. In the absence of the captain, the vice-captain (usually) steps in to lead the team. Whenever Rohit retires from Test cricket, those in power should follow the same simple formula to choose the next long-term Indian Test captain. Look no further than vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah.
Division of captaincy now continuing?
Before we look at why Bumrah is the ideal choice for Test captaincy, let’s also consider a question you might be asking right now: will split captaincy be here to stay in Indian cricket going forward? Well, that’s the way things appear to be. It will be interesting to see who the Indian board considers best suited for the ODI captaincy after Rohit retires from that format or from international cricket altogether. Will the responsibility of ODI captaincy also be handed over to Suryakumar Yadav, whose overall fitness and availability has led the selectors to choose him as India’s long-term T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya? But these are questions for later. As far as the Test format is concerned, it would be foolish to look at anyone other than Bumrah.
Throughout my experience of covering Indian and global sports, one golden rule that emerged (and which applies in all areas of work) is that a surefire way to be a good leader is to lead by example. Set the bar high. Any person worth his salt will tell you the same. Respect cannot be bought, it has to be earned. When it comes to leading a cricket team, a captain must be many things: a good manager, a good communicator, a shrewd strategist, a good listener, a quick thinker who is able to plan on the spot. yes. Things are not going well, supportive, encouraging, lively, polite, not over-enthusiastic and yet not pushy. Along with all this, there must be a captain who stands out for his performances on the field. And this is what works most in Bumrah’s favor. We saw this in the recent Perth Test.
reflection of another great
A casual look at the scorecard of that match, which India won by a huge margin of 295 runs, shows that Jasprit Bumrah has been listed as the man of the match for his match figures of 8/72. However this is not enough to properly describe his impact on the match. Test cricket is the longest format of the game and unlike T20 or even ODI cricket, you won’t find too many matches that tilt decisively in favor of one team, largely due to the efforts of one player. Bumrah had made a similar impact in Perth. But then again, he is that kind of rare person – someone who can take the pitch and the circumstances completely out of the equation and deliver blow after blow to the body until the opposition wobbles and is out. Don’t be ready. Much like the great Kapil Dev, who has been compared to Bumrah for quite some time now. However, comparisons are meaningless because the era, the rules, the fast bowling supporting cast, their bowling actions, all are different.
However, what cannot be debated is that Bumrah can become one of the greatest players of all time, just like Kapil Dev. However, this is not a dissection of what a great bowler Bumrah is, but rather an attempt to look at the facts we have which suggest he is a very good choice for long-term Test captaincy.
a path with the ball
Some of you might have forgotten that Bumrah had worn the captain’s armband once before in a Test. In the 2022 Birmingham Test vs England, Bumrah led the team as Rohit was recovering from COVID-19. India lost that match by seven wickets, but Bumrah was the leading Indian wicket-taker with five wickets. In England’s second innings, which was dominated by centuries from Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*), Bumrah was the only wicket-taker, dismissing Zak Crawley for 46 and Ollie Pope for 0. Got out.
Apart from his heroics with the ball – albeit in a losing cause – Bumrah’s comments when asked about captaincy before the match were most striking: “To get such an opportunity is probably one of the biggest achievements of my career… My Nothing changes, you have to work.” The comments were a healthy mix of honesty, humility, practicality and job awareness. In other words, quintessentially Bumrah.
make others comfortable
And that, along with his almost supernatural abilities to make the cricket ball dance to his tune, is his other great strength. He is mostly an ordinary man, largely polite, respected and admired by both seniors and juniors, ready to whisper spare words of encouragement into a fellow bowler’s ear, and listening, collecting. And are also ready to learn. Any player who thinks he knows everything is doomed to fail. This applies even more to leaders. They should always be ready to learn, not only from people with more experience, but sometimes also from those who fall in the ‘junior’ category. Here I am remembering some scenes from the Indian dressing room in the Perth Test this time, when Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were troubling the Australian bowlers in India’s second innings. When the director cut to the feed of one of the cameras focused on the Indian dressing room, we saw how cordially and patiently Bumrah was listening to debutant Harshit Rana and then interacting with him. A debutant’s body language in the dressing room tells a million stories about how comfortable he is feeling. Virat Kohli is one such leader – always ready to advise and guide – and he remains so even after taking over the captaincy. It was really no surprise to hear Rana say that ‘Jassi Bhai’ and ‘Virat Bhai’ were the two players who gave him ‘a different kind of confidence’ in his Test debut.
If Bumrah becomes India’s full-time Test captain, he will be a trendsetter in many ways. India’s only other fast bowling captain in Test cricket is Kapil Dev, who belongs to a rare breed of complete all-rounders. Shaun Pollock, Ben Stokes and to a lesser extent Imran Khan (six Test centuries), Wasim Akram (three Test centuries) and Jason Holder (three Test centuries) have also been genuine all-rounder captains. Bumrah is an excellent fast bowler.
Why do bowlers make good captains?
Throughout the history of the game, there have been some mental barriers to appointing bowlers as captains. Batsmen have always been the preferred option. This is probably because a batsman’s overall workload allows them to have more time to strategise. However, it is a bowler who understands the changing nature of the pitch, who best knows what bowling strategy to adopt when and from which end. Making a bowler the captain has great strategic importance. Furthermore, when a fast bowler is made captain, the decision comes with the unspoken and unwritten stipulation that he has to be mindful of how much he is bowling himself compared to other bowlers. Neither too much nor too little is acceptable. The same thing became a topic of discussion when Pat Cummins was appointed Test and ODI captain of Australia.
It’s a strange thing to worry about, really. Who would want to bowl themselves if they are not fresh? Realistically, who wouldn’t bowl to another bowler who could possibly deliver a breakthrough? Isn’t winning the match always paramount for the team? Bumrah was asked about this before the Perth Test and his response to it was emphatic – “I can manage myself best when I am the captain”.
Why do the selectors trust him?
Dealing with injuries is another challenge altogether and Bumrah has dealt with it to a great extent in recent times. A stress fracture in his lower back sidelined him for 11 months. But, as soon as he was cleared to play, he was appointed captain of the B-team that toured Ireland for three T20Is. India won the series 2–0 (3rd T20 match was washed out due to rain). Bumrah, who took four wickets at an average of 9.75, was named Player of the Series. The selectors have full confidence in his leadership abilities.
Currently, he is the vice-captain and fast bowler of the Test team and his entire focus will be on helping his team win the Test series for the third consecutive time. But when the time comes, let’s hope the powers that be don’t move ahead of Jasprit Bumrah as India’s next Test captain.
(The author is a former sports editor and primetime sports news anchor. He is currently a columnist, feature writer and stage actor)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
