Is Jasprit Bumrah no longer in India's captaincy plans?
Not long ago, Jasprit Bumrah was vice-captain in Tests but in the squad announced for the first Test against Bangladesh, the selectors have opted against announcing a deputy to Rohit Sharma. This has raised questions about his captaincy future in Tests and across formats.
India's 16-member squad for the first Test against Bangladesh was announced on Sunday (September 8). One of the most surprising names on the roster was Jasprit Bumrah who was reportedly going to be rested keeping in mind the upcoming schedule for the team. At the same time, the selectors have opted against naming any vice-captain which has raised many eyebrows.
Bumrah was India's vice-captain in the previous series against England at home, which was played before the Indian Premier League (IPL). But surprisingly, the fast bowler has not been named as the deputy to skipper Rohit Sharma in the squad announced recently. There is no explanation around the same from the BCCI in its press release which has led to confusion over the vice-captaincy position in the Indian team.
Is Bumrah no longer in the captaincy fray for India? Is BCCI looking at some other player for the role? With no press conferences in the squad announcement, there has been no clarity for long around squad selections and the latest vice-captain confusion is added to the list.
For the unversed, Bumrah has led India in one Test and two T20Is already against England and Ireland respectively. As captain, he lost the Test match and managed to win both T20Is against Ireland. Recently, Bumrah had thrown his weight behind bowlers making better captains noting them as 'smart people'.
"I feel the bowlers are the smart people because you know, they have to get the batsman out and we are obviously always fighting the odds because the grounds are shorter, the bats are better. I don’t remember any article or any technology coming that okay, we are helping the bowlers to swing the ball a lot more.
"Obviously, the people enjoy the ball being thrown around and like to see sixes being hit. That’s okay. So I feel that because bowlers are fighting the odds and have to do the hard job and not hiding behind a bat. They’re not hiding behind a flat wicket. We’re right in the firing line," Bumrah had said while speaking to the Indian Express.
But the recent development has certainly left the question related to India's Test vice-captain open and it remains to be seen if Bumrah has been communicated about the same. His workload could certainly be one of the factors if the selectors are not looking at him as the captaincy option in future. But then, they are also looking at Shubman Gill as their next captain having named him the captain for Zimbabwe T20Is, and the vice-captain for the Sri Lanka series in July-August.