India’s Test captaincy conundrum: Why punish Jasprit Bumrah for putting his body on the line?

It’s an open secret that Rohit Sharma’s days as India captain, at least in the Test format are numbered. I for one was quite surprised that he didn’t bring the curtain down on his Test career entirely after the debacle in Australia recently, where he averaged a mere 6.2 with the bat in five innings.

The powers that be know that they can take their time, as far as anointing India’s new Test captain is concerned , because Team India’s next Test assignment is in June – for a long month and a half tour of England to play another challenging away five-match Test series. That gives them some breathing space to go through the options.

But the million-dollar question here is – why even think too much when you have a vice captain who has proved that he can lead the team by example in splendid style. Jasprit Bumrah is more than ready to be full-time Test captain. He is humble, he knows the importance of encouraging the youngsters, his leadership style is very far removed from the “my way or the highway” style that Robin Uthappa talked about recently in the context of Virat Kohli’s leadership.

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And most importantly, Bumrah is highly respected as a potent, tried and tested, guaranteed match-winner. He leads from the front – a lot like Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Shaun Pollock and Wasim Akram – to name a few legendary fast bowling and all-rounder captains.

A dilemma of Bumrah’s long-term availability

The biggest roadblock here, for some people, seems to be Bumrah’s long-term availability. What happens if he picks up an injury and can’t bowl – like we saw in the Sydney Test recently against Australia. It is true that batters suffer far fewer injuries as compared to bowlers, but if this is taken as a yardstick to pick captains, fast bowlers will never get a chance to be captain.

Also, can we really not give the captaincy baton to someone who is clearly a very good leader and instead give it to someone who is only half-baked, purely because he is a batter? That isn’t really sound judgment, is it? Did Australia not hand Test captaincy to Pat Cummins?

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The critics will argue here that Bumrah has a history of injuries . He was out of action for almost a year with a back injury, for which he had to undergo surgery. But then rejoined the team and went on to become player of the series in the T20 series against Ireland in August 2023 (where he was also captain) and bagging the same award at the 2024 T20 World Cup, which India won, bagging 15 wickets in the tournament, at an economy rate of 4.17 and an incredible average of 8.26.

He was also named ICC’s player of the month for June 2024 for his World Cup heroics . Fast bowlers will get injured. Someone like Kapil Dev, who missed only one Test in his career and that too due to other reasons and not fitness is an aberration. Just look up Cummins’ injury list – it’s a long one – which includes back stress fractures, wrist and heel injuries.

He in fact played his entire debut Test match against South Africa with a heel injury and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the Australian summer in the 2011-12 season. And yet, the Aussie selectors and management thought it wise to make him Test captain in November 2021. Wonder why? Maybe it has something to with the facts that he is a good leader and a quality fast bowler himself?

Cummins did have to make changes to his bowling action, which he remodelled slightly to avoid putting stress on his back, but the major takeaway here should be that Cricket Australia stood by him and gave him the captain’s armband because he deserved it and not deny him the post of captain, because there’s a possibility that he might miss a series or two with an injury. What happens if a batting captain is hit on the head and has to stay on the sidelines?

Bumrah is currently nursing his back again and some reports claim that he might be doubtful for the Champions Trophy , a tournament which is making a comeback after 2017 and will start on February 19. There is a school of thought, whose voice of course has found fresh vigour due to the current fitness situation of India’s number one fast bowler, that Bumrah can be made Test captain, but he can’t be a long-term option.

That the selectors and the top brass must look at other players like Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill to fill in that slot. I personally don’t think that might be a good idea. Why was Bumrah made Test vice-captain if his fitness was such a big concern?

True that the vice-captain doesn’t necessarily have to be the next captain, but in this case, isn’t it a no-brainer that the selectors thought he has good leadership skills? In comparison with Pant and Gill, where does Bumrah stand in this department, as far as the people who will be making the final decision are concerned?

Let’s assume for a minute, hypothetically, that Bumrah is made India’s next Test captain. The selectors will then have to elevate someone else to vice-captain status. Now, if Pant or Gill (since these are the names that are being mentioned the most) is made vice-captain, then that player will get the time and the space to learn a lot from Bumrah himself about leadership.

Scope of having co-vice-captains for India

Both Pant and Gill have been in the Indian dressing room for a while and know just how the team operates. In other words, they will also know the soft-skills areas where the team needs to improve. Going by whatever we have heard and seen about Bumrah’s leadership in the very small sample size that is available to us (3 Tests as captain. First instance was vs England in 2022 in Birmingham), he could mentor Pant and Gill rather well. Also, why can’t India have co-vice-captains, like Australia?

The Aussies elevated Travis Head to co-vice-captain, along with Steve Smith ahead of their first Test vs Pakistan in Perth in December 2023. This could also open the door for someone like Virat Kohli, who is vastly experienced (in the Smith mould) to be co-vice-captain with either Pant or Gill, or Pant and Gill could be made co-vice-captains together.

As things stand right now in Indian Test cricket, going by what we saw in Australia recently, where Mohammed Shami was missing, Bumrah was the one who time and time again brought India back into the contest and kept chances of a win alive. Is there anyone out there who realistically thinks that Bumrah himself doesn’t know how much the team counts on him?

Is there anyone who thinks that that doesn’t add extra pressure in a way, making his burden a heavier one? All this at a time when he knows he himself is mentally ready to be Test captain. Imagine if the selectors go another way. What will the psychological impact of that decision be? Bumrah is a team man, but if he doesn’t get the Test captaincy, it’s bound to hurt.

Consider for a moment just how big an incentive, how big a shot in the arm the captain’s armband (figuratively in cricket of course) really is. And there’s no doubt that Bumrah wants to be the next Indian Test captain. He relishes the challenge.

Now, here’s an interesting thought. One of the things Team India needs to do in order to become more consistent and competitive in Test cricket, especially in the SENA countries, is to play another out and out fast bowler, as a third, sometimes a fourth seaming option. That was not possible this time in Australia, because the top order was not firing. That meant that the team management had to elongate the middle order, fitting in more batting options like Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Once the top order batting is sorted out, hopefully another fast-bowling option will be considered. What that will also do, very importantly, is ease Bumrah’s bowling workload. In Australia, Mohammad Siraj bowled the maximum number of overs for India – 157.1 overs. Bumrah was in second place, having thrown down 151.2 overs.

But the biggest reason Bumrah was not the most bowled Indian bowler in the series overall was because he didn’t bowl in Australia’s second innings and bowled just 10 overs in the first. Though overall Bumrah still finished as the most successful bowler, across both teams, with 32 wickets in 9 innings , going past Kapil Dev as India’s leading Test wicket taker in Australia.

It wasn’t surprising to hear Adam Gilchrist say that he feels that the Indian pace spearhead would have even troubled Sir Donald Bradman.

Some people felt that the number of overs bowled by Bumrah in Australia (151.2) were way too many and that led to his back spasms , which prevented him from bowling in the Australian second innings in Sydney. Well, Bumrah has had issues with his back and niggles flaring up is really not uncommon in cricket.

Will we deny him the chance to lead India in Test cricket because of the very fact that he puts his body on the line match after match for the country? And just to put it out there – Pat Cummins bowled 167 overs in 10 innings in the series – the most by any bowler.

There is also the concern that some have that if a fast bowler becomes the captain, he could either under-bowl or over-bowl himself or herself and overall not manage workload well. But in Bumrah’s case, we have seen what he is like as Test skipper. The only match India won on their more than forgettable tour of Australia this time was under his leadership (in Perth).

In fact, many felt that it was a case of Bumrah against Australia that we saw unfolding on the cricket fields this time. His comment ahead of the Perth Test which India won , where he stood in for Rohit, left no doubt that he is confident of managing his own workload well when he is captain. “I can manage myself the best when I am the captain” is what he had said at the pre-match press conference. It really doesn’t get clearer than this.

India has never had an out and out fast bowler as Test captain. We can change that if Bumrah is made skipper. Does this decision really have to be a big conundrum?