A ROUGH ROAD AHEAD FOR JASPRIT BUMRAH?
The bowler needs to prove himself to all the critics who feel captaincy is best left to a batsman
After Jasprit Bumrah was named Team India captain for the Test against England on Friday, he found himself receiving ‘tips and tricks’ on captaincy from none other than his ‘very excited’ mother! Sanjana Ganesan, the ICC Review presenter and Bumrah’s wife, revealed that the pacer was excited and proud after being named captain, but not to the same degree as his mother Daljit.
“She had tons of tips and tricks, even though she’s never played cricket herself ! Like any mother does, she told him, ‘This should be how you think’, and ‘This should be what you do.’ She was very happy and proud of him, and it was very nice to see,” the ICC website said, quoting Sanjana. Bumrah is taking the place of Rohit Sharma, who is down with Covid-19. Incidentally, Bumrah will be the first fast bowler after Kapil Dev to captain Team India, albeit as stand-in skipper. Spinner Kumble led India several years ago.
“Captaining a team requires a thinking mind. Fast bowlers have to think a lot and prepare for their own bowling. It is not easy to handle extra pressure like field placements, bowling changes, making a game plan and strategy forming. It will be too much of a burden for him”
— KARSAN GHAVRI, Former fast bowler
of Team India
EXPERTS DEBATE
Former fast bowler of Team India, Karsan Ghavri, is however, not happy with the selectors’ decision to appoint Bumrah as captain. “Bumrah has not led any side in the past. We should have an experienced captain to win against a strong England team. Virat Kohli should have been persuaded to lead,” he says. “Captaining a team requires a
thinking mind. Fast bowlers have to think a lot and prepare for their own bowling. It is not easy to handle extra pressure like field placements, bowling changes, making a game plan and strategy forming. It will be too much of a burden for him,” Ghavri feels.
“Yes, Kapil was captain, but he was a natural cricketer and very instinctive. Winning the
1983 World Cup was a feather in his cap but thereafter he was not as successful as Dhoni or Kohli,” Ghavri argues.
Another former Team
India bowler, Pragyan
Ojha, however, has a different take. “We have seen some successful captains who were bowlers. Look at Kapil Dev, Shaun Pollock (South Africa) and Wasim Akram (Pakistan). Recently, Australia’s Pat Cummins has been doing well. Bumrah reads the game well and I am confident of his skill,” he says.
According to Saad Bin Jung, a former First-Class cricketer, Hardik Pandya should have led the side. “Bumrah is a straightforward bowler. Whether he will have the requisite acumen to read a batsman, assess his strengths and weakness and then execute a plan is anyone guess. I would have named Hardik Pandya as captain in all formats of the game. That boy’s understanding of cricket is special. And his talent is immense as an all-rounder, a bit like Kapil,” says Jung.
He goes on to add that, “Fundamentally a batsman has his eyes more on the pitch and his batting partners. I feel he needs to sort out many more variables than a bowler in order to perform. This probably makes him a better reader of the game, though every bowler in the world will disagree with me.”
“Bumrah is a straightforward bowler. Whether he will have the requisite acumen to read a batsman, assess his strengths and weakness and then execute a plan is anyone guess. I would have named Hardik Pandya as captain in all formats of the game. That boy’s understanding of cricket is special.”
— Saad Bin Jung, a former First-Class cricketer