Veteran Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to be named captain or vice-captain of the team when they tour England next month, according to a report in the Indian Express. Notably, Bumrah led India to their only Test win during the Australia series last year.
However, Bumrah is unlikely to play in all 5 matches of the series due to workload management, making him less desirable for the vice-captaincy role as the selectors are reportedly looking for a player who can play in all the matches.
“We want a player who will be available for all five Test matches and he should be given the vice-captain’s role. Bumrah won’t be playing all five matches, so we don’t want to appoint different deputies for different games. It will be better that the captain and vice-captain should be certain and play all five Tests,” the publication quoted a BCCI source as saying.
Another reason the selectors may be looking beyond Bumrah is the search for a young face to groom into a future leader. Reportedly, only two players among the current batch fit the description for the selectors: Shubman Gill (25) and Rishabh Pant (27). Others like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul are in their 30s, while Yashasvi Jaiswal (23) is considered too young.
Bumrah’s back injury:
The 31 year old pacer had suffered an injury to the back during the last match of the Australia series – where he was incidentally leading the side in Rohit Sharma’s abscence. Since then, Bumrah was out of action for almost 3 months, missing a few ODI series, Champions Trophy 2025 and even the first half of this year’s IPL.
Since his comeback, though, Bumrah has been bowling at full tilt and has worked as a 4 over bank bank for the Mumbai Indians. In the 7 matches played this season, Bumrah has taken 11 wickets with a strike rate of 15.27 and an economy rate of 6.97.
India’s tour of England will start from 20 June and end with the 5th match at The Oval on 31st July.
