Opinión impopular: Jasprit Bumrah, tácticamente sólido, no es la solución de capitanía a largo plazo de la India.

Jasprit Bumrah has showed his capability lead the side from the front effectively twice in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He did so first in the IND vs AUS 1st Test in Perth where India finished with a mammoth 295-run win. The pacer returned as the stand-in skipper in IND vs AUS 5th Test, replacing Rohit Sharma who opted out of the game owing to his poor form. In both cases, Bumrah’s captaincy earned a lot of praise, especially for his tactical decisions and usage of bowlers at the right times.

But with all said and done, Bumrah just can’t be India’s long-term captaincy solution. Why? Simply because the pacer is too precious to be played in all games. And what happens when he is forced to? It is the risk of losing Bumrah for a considerable amount of time due to injury which could cost India dearly.

Why Bumrah isn’t a long-term solution as captain for India

Jasprit Bumrah has led India on three occasions, including the Sydney Test. He has one win and loss to his name as the skipper, with the fate of the third game hanging in balance and majorly dependent on the pacer’s availability to bowl in the 2nd innings of IND vs AUS 5th Test. The pacer was hailed for his decisions as the leader, both in the Tests at Perth and Sydney. While Rohit Sharma came under fire for his usage of bowlers and placement of fielders, the pacer in turn gained praise for nailing his role. Besides, Bumrah is also India’s vice-captain in the longest format of the game when the Hitman leads the side. And hence, naturally, he is expected to succeed Rohit as the next full-time captain.

Jasprit Bumrah captaincy record in Test

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However, that is not the best case scenario whatsoever. If there is one player whom India and the support staff would want to tread cautiously on in terms of workload, then it is none other than Bumrah. The premium pacer is one of India’s primary all-format players whose presence is literally required in every big series, be it white-ball or red-ball formats. In such a case, it is impossible for the veteran to participate in al Tests. While India can afford to have a stand-in skipper for series against teams who don’t pose a very big threat, it is imperative for the side to have a skipper who takes the field all the time. The same explanation was given for replacing Hardik Pandya with Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I skipper following the T20 World Cup.

While Bumrah might be tactically sound and India’s best option for Test captaincy, the team should look beyond and find someone else who can fulfill the roll full-time. Besides, as stated before, Bumrah is too precious to be wasted for every single Test and hence his workload needs to be managed keeping in mind when and where he is needed exactly.