"It will be a unique thing if Jasprit Bumrah becomes the Indian captain in the future" - Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan believes it will be a unique development if Jasprit Bumrah is handed over Team India's captaincy duties in the future.
KL Rahul had to miss the recently concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka due to injury and will not be available for the upcoming Tests as well. The Indian selectors named Bumrah as Rohit Sharma's deputy for both the series.
During an interaction on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan was asked about Jasprit Bumrah's future captaincy prospects. He responded:
"We have not seen too many Indian bowlers doing the captaincy. You can talk about Kapil Dev, he was an all-rounder and after that, Anil Kumble had become a captain as a bowler. So, it will be a unique thing if Jasprit Bumrah becomes the Indian captain in the future."
The former India all-rounder added that Bumrah would certainly be an integral member of the leadership group even if he doesn't get the captaincy mantle. Pathan elaborated:
"There is workload management done. We have seen that he [Bumrah] does not play too much Test match cricket in India. But he has the ability, when you become a senior player, you get the experience. He will definitely be part of the leadership even if he doesn't get to captain."
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Bumrah has played just two of his 27 Tests to date at home. With the unconventional pacer being Team India's bowling spearhead in all three formats, he would require intermittent breaks and it might not be advisable to burden him with the captaincy.
"Jasprit Bumrah's journey has been outstanding" - Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan also lauded Bumrah for his meteoric rise in international cricket. He observed:
"Jasprit Bumrah's journey has been outstanding. There was a time when he was playing regular first-class cricket, he was performing well as well. He got rewarded when he got a chance in the IPL and then he started representing the Indian team, he has not looked back."
"When I came into the Mumbai Indians side Ricky Ponting was the Captain and I was not playing regularly. I started playing a lot under Rohit Sharma, he had a lot of confidence in me. He instilled a lot of confidence." - Jasprit Bumrah (In DRS with Ashwin)
The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by highlighting Bumrah's positive influence on the rest of the bowlers. Pathan explained:
"He has become India's No.1 bowler because he plays in all the formats and bowls at difficult stages. The evolution that has been seen, there is no doubt he has the quality. He is a calming influence on the other bowlers when he is present on the field."
It will be interesting to see if Team India field Bumrah in both Tests against Sri Lanka. The speedster might be given a break for at least one of the Tests considering that he will have a strenuous workload in IPL 2022, which is round the corner.