NEWS
Follow UsSix years ago, in his first Test series in Australia, Jasprit Bumrah led India with the ball in hand and powered the country to its first ever series win Down Under, taking a remarkable 21 wickets at a scarcely believable average of 17.00.
Bumrah’s career has since only gotten better and better and on November 22 (Friday), he will script history by becoming the first fast bowler to captain India in a Test in Australia this century.
Bumrah has captained India already once in Tests - in the one-off Test against England at Edgbaston in 2022 - but considering the cricketing world has not seen the 30-year-old lead a lot, there’s a lot of curiosity over what his style of captaincy will be.
The team India talisman, though, is very clear on the kind of captain he wants to be.
"You have to find your own way; you can't blindly copy anyone. Obviously Rohit and Virat are both successful and have gotten results but I've never followed a copy-book plan, even in terms of my bowling. I go with my instincts and that's how I've always played my cricket,” Bumrah said at the press conference on the eve of the first Test in Perth.
“I have a lot of faith in my instincts and gut. Tactically as a bowler you're always well aware of the changes you need to make. I'll try to cover all bases as much as I can."
Fast-bowling captains have been a rarity in Tests and one of the reasons for the same, many believe, is the fact that they might not know how to utilise themselves well. In the sense that when fast bowlers are given the key, they might either end up overbowling or underbowling themselves, with the former being more likelier than the latter.
But when asked about the aforementioned challenge, Bumrah brought in a whole new perspective altogether. He insisted that he can manage himself ‘best’ when he is the leader because nobody understands his body better than himself. He also spoke about the tactical edge bowling captains have over batting captains.
"I can manage myself the best when I'm captain because I know when I'm fresh and I know when I have to take extra responsibility. There are challenges but there are advantages as well. And I look at the advantages,” Bumrah said.
“As a bowler, you understand when the wicket is changing, what changes you have to make, what field changes you have to make. Bowlers do a lot more research and are more data-driven than batters because that's where the game is headed, so I look at the positives more than the negatives."
With Tim Southee having relinquished New Zealand captaincy, Pat Cummins is the only active fast bowler that’s a captain. But there have been a decent chunk of quicks that have captained their respective sides in Tests in the past decade, with Southee, Suranga Lakmal and Jason Holder all falling in the list.
Bumrah hoped for ‘fast bowling captains’ to become a tradition and added that he himself has taken a lot of inspiration from individuals from both the past and the present, including Cummins.
“Obviously physically it's a lot more draining to bowl but tactically bowlers are quite smart. It's not like we're not aware of where the game is heading. So if more [fast bowling] leaders can contribute then there is no better feeling.
“There are many examples in the past as well. For India, Kapil Dev did a fabulous job. For Australia, Pat [Cummins] has done a phenomenal job and he's got a lot of success. There are lot of individuals you can take inspiration from. Hopefully a start of a new tradition and many more players will follow that.”
As referenced earlier, leading India in Test cricket won’t be new for Bumrah. But he asserted that he sees captaining India in Tests as the ‘biggest honour’ there can possibly be.
“There is no greater honour than captaining India. As a child, I always wanted to lead India in Test cricket. I'm very privilged and very happy to be in this position."
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