Senior India bowler Jasprit Bumrah has said he refused the Indian Test captaincy, offered to him by the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) during the Indian Premier League. Speaking to Sky Sports, Bumrah said that he was managing his workload and needed to be smarter to play for a prolonged amount of time.
Bumrah, who has been injury-prone for several years now, recently pulled out midway through the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The injury forced Bumrah to miss the Champions Trophy, one that India won under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.
Bumrah said that the BCCI wanted him to take over the Indian team from the England series, much before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli called time on their careers.
“Before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired — during the IPL, I had spoken to BCCI, that I have discussed workload going forward in a five-match Test series. I have spoken to people who manage my back — we came to the conclusion that I have to be a little more smart. Then I called the BCCI that I don’t want to be looked at for the leadership role because I won’t be able to play all the Test matches,” Jasprit Bumrah told Sky Sports in an interview.
“BCCI was looking at me for the leadership role, but I had to say no to them because it’s not ideal when someone is leading for 3 Tests, then someone else has to lead the rest of the Tests. So it’s not fair for the team, as I wanted to put the team first,” Jasprit Bumrah concluded.
AJIT AGARKAR’S VERSION
Bumrah’s statement comes in sharp contrast to what the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had said at the press conference while announcing Shubman Gill as the captain of the men’s Test team.
Agarkar had said that the Indian Cricket Board wanted Bumrah to focus on his workload issues, rather than taking the additional burden of Test captaincy. Agarkar further added that the decision was communicated to Bumrah, and the fast bowler was okay with the explanation given to him by the board.
“Because he led in Australia, Bumrah was the vice-captain (in BGT 2024-25). Once he was not going to be available for all the Test matches, I think he is more important to us as a player. We want him fit. I think there is always that extra burden as a leader, managing 15–16 other people. There’s a lot that it takes out of you. We would rather have him bowling well rather than putting that extra burden on him,” Agarkar said in the press conference in Mumbai.