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Sunil Gavaskar feels India’s captaincy might change ‘very soon’ and this player should be the front-runner to take over.
Sunil Gavaskar (PTI Photo)
Legendary former cricketer-turned-broadcaster Sunil Gavaskar believes Jasprit Bumrah would be India’s next captain after Rohit Sharma and might take over ‘very soon’. Listing Bumrah’s qualities, Gavaskar said the pacer ‘leads from the front’ and is always visibly there as a helping hand to his bowlers, while never putting any added pressure on them.
Bumrah led India in the first and last Tests of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India convincingly won the first, in Perth, but lost by six wickets in the last, in Sydney. Bumrah was brilliant in both games, with the ball and as the skipper, but he missed the final innings of the Sydney Test due to injury and Australia got an easier route to chasing 162 on a spicy track.
“He could be the next man. I think he will be the next man. Because he leads from the front. He has got a very good air about him. The air of a leader. But not somebody who is going to put pressure on you. Sometimes you have captains who put a lot of pressure on you,” Gavaskar said on 7Cricket.
“With Bumrah, you can see that he expects the others to do what their job is and why they’re in the national team. But he doesn’t seem to pressurize anybody. And with the fast bowlers, he has been absolutely brilliant. Standing at mid-off, mid-on. Every time he was on hand to tell them and guide them. I think he was absolutely brilliant and I won’t be surprised if he takes over very soon,” Gavaskar added.
Bumrah got to lead twice in Australia because Rohit Sharma was unavailable in Perth due to personal reasons and opted-out of the Sydney game because of his poor form. The skipper’s future in India’s whites is under consideration after the 3-1 series loss in Australia.
Multiple reports have confirmed that the BCCI is set to hold a review meeting soon, where they’ll take a call on the leadership future for India for Tests and ODIs.
Although Bumrah, being the vice-captain, should be a clear front-runner, his workload concerns might become an issue. He’s now the only all-format player for India and arguably the most important because of his skills. If India do appoint him to the helm, they might also need to choose a good deputy to lead in matches where Bumrah would be unavailable.
