Jasprit Bumrah rules himself out of India's Test captaincy race: Report

The BCCI is searching for a new Test captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement announcement on May 7, prompted by his declining performance and the team's recent losses

Jasprit Bumrah opts out of Test captaincy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is actively looking for a new skipper in the Test format of the game. It came after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the longest format on Wednesday, May 7. Players including Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah are currently the front runners to get the captaincy of the team.

Rohit Sharma's recent Test performance as a batter and captain dipped significantly, due to which the BCCI started looking for other captaincy options. Team India got whitewashed by New Zealand during the home series and also lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 under Rohit's leadership.

However, one big name has opted himself out from the race of leading Team India, and that is Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah is unwilling to lead Team India: Report

India's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been a consistent performer for the team across all the formats. Bumran led Team India in the first test at Perth and registered a victory in the BGT opener. He was the leading wicket taker with 31 wickets in five matches during the series.

A recent report unveiled that Bumrah is not willing to lead the team in the longer format. The report said, "It is understood Bumrah, who was favourite to take over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma, does not want to commit to playing all five Tests in a series due to workload. He is unlikely to feature in all five Tests against England, and selectors would prefer a captain who can consistently feature across a whole series."

Considering the impact that Jasprit Bumrah brings to the team, it is important for him to play at least four Test matches during the marathon tour of England in order to manage workload effectively. The Indian cricket team is poised to play five Test matches, and it would be important for the team management to keep their premier pacer fit throughout the series.

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