‘Jaspirt Bumrah leads from the front’: Sunil Gavaskar endorses pacer for Indian team’s captaincy

Former India batter Sunil Gavaskar has endorsed Jasprit Bumrah for the captaincy role as Rohit Sharma’s future in the team is under consideration. Speaking on Thursday (Jan 9), Gavaskar reckons Bumrah is the right man for the job as he leads from the front. The 31-year-old pacer led India in two Test matches during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy winning the Perth match.

Gavaskar backs Bumrah

“He could be the next man. I think he will be the next man. Because he leads from the front. He has got a very good air about him. The air of a leader. But not somebody who is going to put pressure on you. Sometimes you have captains who put a lot of pressure on you,” Gavaskar said while speaking to 7Cricket.

“With Bumrah, you can see that he expects the others to do what their job is and why they’re in the national team. But he doesn’t seem to pressurise anybody. And with the fast bowlers, he has been absolutely brilliant,” added Gavaskar.

Questions have been raised about Rohit Sharma’s future in the team as he continues to struggle with the bat. It was rumoured that he could announce his retirement from the Test format after the Sydney Test but after an interview with the broadcasters, he vows to challenge for a place in the Test side. India are next in red-ball action in June when they tour England.

For Bumrah, he has led India on multiple occasions including a 2-0 series win against Ireland in 2023. He has so far led India in three Test matches, winning one and losing two while Rohit Sharma was absent. Bumrah showed no signs of slowing down despite the captaincy pressure as he took the Player of the Series award in the BGT. During nine innings of the Test series against Australia, he scalped 32 wickets, highlighting his dominance with the ball.