Ajit Agarkar has revealed why Jasprit Bumrah has been snubbed as the India Test captain. During a press conference on Saturday, Agarkar said that Bumrah would not be available for all five Test matches in England which puts him out of Test captaincy race.
Speaking at the press conference, Agarkar said, “I mean, not really booms (Bumrah), because he led in Australia. He was vice captain in Australia but once he’s not going to be available for all the test matches, I think he’s more important to us as a player. We want him fit. There’s always that extra burden when you’re leading, managing 15-16, other people, there’s a lot that it takes out of you.”
“We’d rather have him bowling as well as he does, than putting that extra burden on him. He’s aware of it and he’d rather look after himself and be bowling fit.” Agarkar added
Notably, Bumrah had led the Indian team during the World Test Championship Final in 2023 and captained the side in the first and final matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The fast bowler has impressed many with his leadership skills, but with the selectors setting a precedent in the case of Hardik Pandya’s T20I captaincy, it was always going to be difficult for Bumrah to take over the reins of the Test side.
India’s side for England tour:
With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month, and Ravichandran Ashwin bidding adieu to the format during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a number of new faces have emerged in the Indian team.
Gujarat Titans batter Sai Sudharsan has been rewarded for his IPL heroics, while Karun Nair finally returns to the Indian Test side after a string of solid performances in domestic cricket.
Mohammed Shami has missed out on the squad due to injury concerns, while Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur return to the Indian side.
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
