Speaking about India’s next Test captain after Virat Kohli stepped down, former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared a different perspective.
BCCI are yet to announce India’s next Test captain after Virat Kohli decided to step down from the position earlier this month following a 1-2 defeat in South Africa. With Rohit Sharma being the designated vice-captain in Tests – he replaced Ajinkya Rahane as vice-captain in December – many fans and experts believe he should be the right choice. KL Rahul, who made his Test and ODI captaincy debuts in South Africa, is also considered to be a contender. Speaking about India’s next Test captain, former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared a different perspective. The former cricketer backed Rohit to lead India in all three formats but called for Jasprit Bumrah to be given a chance to lead India in Test cricket, if Rohit is not unavailable for all formats.
“According to me, Rohit Sharma should be the captain of all three formats. If he is totally fit then he should captain all three formats,” Harbhajan told Sports Tak.
Harbhajan, who announced his retirement recently, said Jasprit Bumrah could be considered for Tests in Rohit’s absence and he also used the example of 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev to justify his claims.
“If Rohit feels that he doesn’t want to captain all three formats. Then in Test cricket, I am on Jasprit Bumrah’s side. He should be given the captaincy because a fast bowler is always thought that they think too big.
“Kapil Dev was also a bowler. Why can’t a bowler be captain? I want to know this”, he further added.
Harbhajan said India have very few match-winners like Bumrah in the side and he can be groomed as a future leader.
“Among match-winners in Team India, Jasprit Bumrah is better than them. How many matches Jasprit Bumrah has won us, probably only one bowler has done that. So Jasprit Bumrah for Test cricket captaincy if Rohit Sharma is not available,” he said.
Kohli had also stepped down as T20I skipper after the T20 World Cup. Soon, he was also removed from the same role in ODIs with Rohit revealed as full-time white-ball captain in December last year.
Meanwhile, Rohit returned to lead the white-ball sides for the home series against West Indies. The opener had missed the South Africa tour due to a hamstring injury. Bumrah, along with Mohammed Shami were rested from the three ODIs and three T20Is series.