Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has voted for Jasprit Bumrah to be the new Test captain of the Indian team after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s retirement from the longest format of the game. With the reports coming that Shubman Gill is likely to lead India in the five-match Test series in England, Gavaskar wants the Indian management to go with Bumrah as captain despite his injury concerns.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah was vice captain of India during their previous tour to Australia in 2024-25 and led India to 295-run win in the Test first in Perth in Rohit Sharma’s absence. He also took over the role in the last Test in Sydney but had to leave the field midway due to back injury due to heavy workload throughout the series. After that, he was out of the cricketing action for more than two months and made his return during IPL 2025.
Who better to know what is the workload for Bumrah than himself?: Sunil Gavaskar
Now, as the reports were coming that Jasprit Bumrah will not be seen in the leadership role in England tour due to injury concerns, Sunil Gavaskar said that he can manage his workload well if he is given the captaincy. Notably, India will miss the services of their key senior players in England series including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin who bid adieu to Test cricket.
"Who better to know what is the workload for himself than himself? If you appoint somebody else, they would always want an extra over from Bumrah. If he is your No. 1 bowler, he will himself know that 'yes, this is the time I must take a break'. To me, it has to be Jasprit Bumrah only. I know all these kind of speculation going around his workload and all that. Give it to him so that he knows how many overs to bowl, when to take him off, when to sort of rest. That would be the best thing," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Times Now.
He (Bumrah) may not have to miss a Test match. If you give it him, he might know when to stop before his body starts to crumble. For me, give it to him. After the first Test, there is an eight-day gap. There's enough time to recover. Then, there are two back-to-back Test matches. That's fine. There's then another gap. If you give him the captaincy, he will be the best person to know when to bowl," he further added.
