Recently it was revealed that Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s latest scans were fine but BCCI selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar decided to not select him for the Champions Trophy as it was too soon to take a chance.
A latest report from PTI claims that there was one more reason to shield Bumrah — to keep him ready for the five-match Test series tour of England to lead the team.
Coincidentally, Bumrah first led India in a Test match in England when he was named captain of the side for the postponed Birmingham Test in July 2022.
Bumrah was then named captain in two Tests in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. First it was the opening Test in Perth in which Rohit wasn’t available due to personal reasons and then the fifth and final Test when Rohit was dropped after a string of poor scores.
The 3-1 series defeat in Australia had a cascading effect within the national team set-up. The BCCI had brought in strict rules over player entourages, families on tour, playing domestic cricket, using personal vehicles to practice sessions to name some of them.
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Going forward, the reins will fully be handed over to Bumrah and Rohit will not be considered for selection, starting with the England tour set to begin June 20 and end by August 4.
“It is understood that the main bone of contention was that Bumrah is yet to start bowling full tilt and those in the know of things said that it is very difficult to get match-fit in such a short time,” the PTI report claimed.
“Rather, he can come back for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and then lead India in England as Rohit Sharma is unlikely to be picked for Tests again,” the report further said.
Even though Rohit has returned to form in the ODIs with a superb hundred against England in Cuttack, his abilities in Test cricket have always been under scrutiny. Rohit, who will turn 38 in April, has scored 619 runs across 26 Test innings in 2024 and has an average of 24.
Bumrah, meanwhile, was the shining light for India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a stunning return of 32 wickets from nine innings at an average of 13.
If the change does happen, it will also flip BCCI’s captaincy strategy of having just one regular all-format captain to having three different captains — Suryakumar Yadav for T20s, Rohit for ODIs and Bumrah for Tests.
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