New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah is set to become the first fast bowler in 35 years to lead Indian Test team in the rescheduled ‘fifth Test’ against England. This is because regular captain Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the game after testing positive for Covid-19 for the second time Wednesday.
The last pacer-captain that India had was the great Kapil Dev, who was removed from captaincy in 1987. Since then India has never had a speed merchant leading the team in traditional cricket.
“Rohit is out of this Test match, starting July 1, as his RT-PCR test has come positive again. He is still in isolation. Jasprit Bumrah, who is one of the vice-captains in absence of KL Rahul, will lead the team,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Bumrah will be the 36th cricketer to lead India in the longest-format since the country first played in 1932. The Gujarat pacer, who has 123 wickets in 29 Tests, has grown into one of the world’s best fast bowlers.
The Chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma had earlier said that Bumrah is being groomed as a future leader.
Fast bowlers have not been traditionally given the job in India unlike in Pakistan where their greatest skipper was Imran Khan. Legends like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis also led national side.
In West Indies, Courtney Walsh led the side for a considerable amount of time. Currently World No. 1 bowler Pat Cummins is now leading Australia in longest format.
With the experienced Rohit out of the playing XI, seasoned Cheteshwar Pujara has a good chance of opening the batting with young Shubman Gill. The source said that Mayank Agarwal has just been brought as ‘cover’ and is not in the scheme of things as far featuring in the playing XI is concerned.
“Mayank is here just as cover. It is likely to be Pujara-Gill combination that is going to open the batting. There is an outside chance for Hanuma Vihari to open as he has done the job in a stop-gap arrangement in Australia during the 2018 series. But chances of Pujara opening are way more,” the official said.
It is understood that the specialist batters in the set-up will be Pujara, Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Vihari and Rishabh Pant.
The only other debatable matter is whether to play a fourth fast bowling all-rounder in Shardul Thakur or a second spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin alongside Ravindra Jadeja. Along with Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami select themselves automatically.