IND vs AUS: Jasprit Bumrah to Lead India in Perth Test With Rohit Sharma Set to Miss BGT Opener - Reports

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Jasprit Bumrah set to lead Team India for the fourth the time in his career as the pace spearhead is reportedly going to stand-in for skipper Rohit Sharma in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener in Perth.

According to several reports, Bumrah, who is the vice captain of the team, will captain the team in Rohit's absence in five-match Test series opener, starting in Perth on November 22. Rohit will miss the Perth Test due to personal reasons.

Bumrah has only captained India in one Test match so far, with the stint coming back in 2022 against England, when Rohit was unavailable due to Covid. Bumrah stepped in as the skipper for the rescheduled fifth Test at Birmingham, where India lost by 7 wickets.

While that was his lone captaincy in Test, Bumrah also led India in T20Is. The ace pacer captained India during the tour to Ireland in 2023, when Hardik Pandya, the then captain of the shortest format, was rested. Bumrah captained India to two wins on the tour.

Now, he will go up against a team led by another fast bowler in Pat Cummins, who is set to captain Australia for the 29th time in Test cricket. In 28 Tests as captain, Cummins has led Australia to 17 wins and lost 6 with 5 matches ending as a draw.

Bumrah was expected to lead the team in Rohit's absence as revealed during the pre-tour press conference by head coach Gautam Gambhir before the squad left for Australia last week.

"Bumrah is vice-captain; if Rohit is not available, he is going to lead in Perth," Gambhir stated, addressing the media on who would lead the team, during a pre-departure press conference a week ago in Mumbai.

While Team India jetted to Australia at the start of last week, Rohit stayed back home for the birth of his second child and will join the India squad ahead of the second Test in Adelaide, which will be kicking off from December 4.

Rohit and his wife Ritika welcomed their second child on Friday (November 15), giving hopes of the skipper's early travel to Australia. But Rohit will only be available from the second Test.

The regular Test skipper will also be available for the two-day pink-ball warm-up game against the Australian Prime Minister's XI before the second Test of the prestigious BGT series.