Jasprit Bumrah Has Been Part Of Leadership Group: Rohit Sharma

India captain Rohit Sharma defended Jasprit Bumrah’s promotion to vice-captain for the three-Test series against New Zealand on Tuesday, describing the lead pacer as a vital component of the leadership group with a strong “understanding” of the game.

India will play a three-match Test series against the Tom Latham-led team before traveling to Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune will host the second Test on October 24 and 28. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host the third and final Test from November 1 to 5.

The match will be critical as India seeks to consolidate their position at the top of the World Test Championship rankings. New Zealand, on the other side, is failing to find its footing in subcontinent conditions, having lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka. The maiden ICC World Test Championship champions are now ranked sixth in the World Test Championship points standings.

Jasprit Bumrah understands what is required: Rohit Sharma

India didn’t have a vice-captain during the England Tests earlier this year and even when Bangladesh visited India. However, the BCCI decided to name Jasprit Bumrah as the vice-captain for the New Zealand series.

This is because there are reports that Rohit Sharma will miss at least one test on the tour of Australia due to personal reasons and having Bumrah as vice-captain will help the pacer ease into the captaincy role whenever the time comes.

PTI had reported on October 10 that Rohit is set to miss at least one Test Down Under due to personal reasons.

“Look, Bumrah has played a lot of cricket. I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. He understands the game pretty well. He’s got a good head on his shoulder. When you talk to him, he understands the game. Tactically, I can’t say much because he has not captained much. He was captain in one Test match and a couple of T20s, I guess,” Rohit told reporters during his pre-match press meet.

Bumrah had led India in the rescheduled Test against England in 2022 and marshaled the side in the T20I series against Ireland last year.

“He understands what is required. When you are in a situation where you need a leader to step up, I think Bumrah will be one of them. So, over the past, he’s always been in our leadership group,” said Rohit.

The 37-year-old said his premier pacer has seamlessly moved to the role of a mentor to the young pacers in the team.

“Whether it is speaking to the bowlers who have just come into the squad, whether it is getting internally with the team to discuss about how to move forward as a team, he’s always been part of that leadership group. So, it’s probably the right thing to just have him around and speak to the bowlers and internally discuss how to take the team forward,” added Rohit.

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