"Elated to see a fast bowler captain after over 3 decades" - Twitterati congratulate Jasprit Bumrah on becoming India's 36th Test skipper

Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the Birmingham Test

Seasoned pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the rescheduled Test against England, which begins in Birmingham on Friday (July 1). The 28-year-old was named as India’s 36th Test captain after regular skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to COVID-19.

The Gujarat pacer will also become the first fast bowler in 35 years to lead the country in a Test match. The legendary Kapil Dev was the last pacer to lead the team in the traditional format of the game back in 1987.

In an official statement on Thursday, the BCCI confirmed the big development. The BCCI statement read:

“Mr Rohit Sharma, Captain, Indian Cricket Team is ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test against England to be played from Friday. Rohit underwent a RAT Test on Thursday morning and returned a positive result for COVID-19.”

The statement added:

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Mr Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the upcoming Test and Mr Rishabh Pant as his deputy.”

Wishes started flowing in for Bumrah on social media as soon as news of his appointment as captain for the Birmingham Test was announced. Here are some Twitter reactions to the fast bowler being named as Test captain:

Vice-Captain Boom ➡️ ©️𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗠

Jasprit Bumrah will lead #TeamIndia in the 5th Test 🆚 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

#OneFamily #ENGvIND @Jaspritbumrah93 https://t.co/jAEXspmRSD

Elated to see a fast bowler captain after over three decades… Congratulations, @Jaspritbumrah93 🏏💪

#ENGvIND

Captain Jasprit Bumrah
He has come a long way, go well @Jaspritbumrah93 🐐 https://t.co/jwyJ6b3JD7

@Jaspritbumrah93’s meteoric rise continues. Test captain of India is a big deal particularly for a fast bowler. 5 years back made his Test debut with critics unconvinced he could last becoz of his unorthodox action. Today he is among world’s top fast bowlers across formats

Come On @Jaspritbumrah93 Let's Go Create History 🔥 https://t.co/BbkPIldOKM

Jasprit Bumrah will be the 4th player from Gujarat to lead the team. Vinoo Mankad, Lt. Col. Hemu Adhikari (played 1 match for Gujrat), Nari Contractor had led the Indian teams. Interestingly Bumrah never captained in Ranji trophy.
All the best @Jaspritbumrah93

#JaspritBumrah https://t.co/iO6U7FMjo3

A warm welcome to 🇮🇳's Test skipper no. 36

From the aura of @therealkapildev paaji to the brilliance of Boom Boom-rahhh, a premier fast bowler leading us in Test Cricket is going to be such a refreshing sight.

Looking forward to this, @Jaspritbumrah93❤️
https://t.co/1iUGXyLLXC

Feels very good and excited to see a fast bowling captain . I always thought that why India had always batting or spin bowling captain but now my wish is fulfilled. Go well @Jaspritbumrah93 🇮🇳

Last time a proper bowler led India was way back in 2008. Anil Kumble was that captain. @Jaspritbumrah93 great for you, let's make this series ours.

#INDvsENG #JaspritBumrah

So happy to see a fast bowler leading India, in the tests. Good luck, @Jaspritbumrah93 #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #INDvENG

After 35 years, another fast pitcher Jasprit Bumrah will captain the Indian team in Test Cricket (rescheduled fifth test match IND vs ENG). Before him, the great fast bowler, the all-rounder Kapil Dev has commanded the team. Congratulations Boom Boom @Jaspritbumrah93 twitter.com/ANI/status/154…

🐐 Bumrah @Jaspritbumrah93

He has worked So hard to achieve this ft. 💞👑🤝👌 twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…

Bumrah was India’s leading wicket-taker during previous England tour

Bumrah, who is the leader of the Indian pace attack in all three formats of the game, was the team’s highest wicket-taker in the Test series in England last year. He claimed 18 wickets in four Tests at an average of 20.83.

The fast bowler has so far played 29 Test matches, in which he has claimed 123 wickets at an average of 21.73. He was named vice-captain for the ODI series in South Africa earlier this year.

India’s Test squad: Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal