Captain confirmed as India pacer returns as stand-in skipper for final Australia Test
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team in the fifth and final Test Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The uncertainty surrounding the captaincy for the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar series was settled when Jasprit Bumrah stepped up to the toss in a blue blazer.
It was confirmation that regular captain that Rohit Sharma – whose performances as both a batter (31 runs in three Tests on the tour) and as a captain (six consecutive winless matches) had been underwhelming – was not in playing XI for the decider.
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India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
At the toss, Bumrah stated that Sharma had "opted" to be rested for the Test.
The signs had already begun to emerge on the eve of the Sydney Test when India’s coach, Gautam Gambhir, appeared alone at the pre-match press conference, instead of the regular team captain.
ALSO READ: Gambhir refuses to confirm Rohit Sharma selection for deciding Test
Gambhir’s refusal to comment on Rohit Sharma’s place in the team only intensified speculation about the captaincy for the final Test.
Bumrah, however, is no stranger to leadership. Having served as vice-captain for an extended period, he has also captained on two occasions, the most recent of which marked India’s only victory in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.
His previous stint as captain came in the final Test against England in Birmingham in 2022, where he ended up on the losing side as the hosts triumphed by 7 wickets, levelling the series at 2-2.
He then stepped in once again when Rohit Sharma was absent for the first Test of the series in Perth due to the birth of his second child.
Despite India being bowled out for just 150, Bumrah displayed remarkable leadership, inspiring his team to bowl Australia out for a mere 104. The visitors then declared at a formidable 487/6, setting Australia a daunting target of 534.
Australia could only muster 238, falling short by a huge 295-run margin, securing Bumrah his first victory as Test captain. He led from the front, taking eight wickets in the match (5/30 & 3/42) and earning the Player of the Match award.
Speaking after the win, Bumrah gave a glimpse of how he approaches the game when he is captain.
"Obviously, whenever tough scenarios come, I look at myself that how can I contribute even when I am not the captain,” he said. “So whenever tough scenarios are there, I look at answers that okay, if I am going to bowl at this moment, what can I do?
“So in this moment, we were a new side, so I automatically wanted to put me in tough scenarios whenever we needed to do something. I was trying to put myself in that tough scenario to make the job a little bit easier for the new guys coming in."
It’s evident that Bumrah has the full backing of both the management and senior figures in the Indian team. Additionally, he has earned the support of former greats and ICC Review experts Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri.
Ahead of the series, Ponting highlighted how Bumrah, the bowler, would differentiate himself from Bumrah, the captain, while on the field.
“That's probably the hardest thing for him, I think that was always the question on Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well is how much is he going to bowl himself? Is he going to bowl himself too much? Is he not going to bowl himself enough?
“But someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to be bowling when he needs to have a spell. And the other thing about that Indian team, there's a lot of other experience around him.”
Shastri on Bumrah's X-factor | ICC Review
Surely enough, Bumrah answered those questions by delivering a Player of the Match performance in Perth. Ravi Shastri, too, felt that the game demonstrated Bumrah’s readiness to take on the captaincy role moving forward.
“Definitely, I think so he's passed that test [of captaincy]. In his case, it's up to him. In the sense, [for] a fast bowler, it is never easy. It takes its toll. How much does he want to bowl?
“What I gathered [from the Perth game] was not just the way he bowled or the way he was inspired with that captaincy tag, but the way he understood the other bowlers in the team and made use of them. So it will be a learning curve. You won the first Test, but no captain suddenly becomes a terrific captain in just two or three matches. It will take time.
“But the fact that he's experienced now like we said before the first Test, he understands his own game, he's confident about his own game. There's no insecurity when it comes to his own position. He's a guaranteed player in the XI. All those boxes are ticked, so it makes sense.”