Jasprit Bumrah wishes to be India's Pat Cummins: 'Playing Test cricket great, captaining even better'

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Jasprit Bumrah once again made his captaincy ambition clear, and said that he would love to lead the Indian Test side if the opportunity is thrown at him in future. The statement from Bumrah comes days ahead of India's first Test match against England in Hyderabad.

Bumrah has led India once during the rescheduled fifty Test in England in 2022. Rohit Sharma tested Covid-positive, while vice-captain KL Rahul was ruled out due to injury. Bumrah had become the first fast bowler in 35 years to lead the Indian team.

Jasprit Bumrah was India's vice-captain in the 2-Test series against South Africa, and he has got a similar role in the first two matches of the 5-Test series against England at home.

With Rohit Sharma nearing 37, Jasprit Bumrah minced no words while expressing his captaincy ambitions. He said leading the national side is a dream of every player and he is no different. He recalled his feeling when he led India in the Edgbaston Test.

“I did one game and it was the utmost honour. Playing Test cricket is great, captaining was even better. Yes, we lost but we were ahead in the match and I loved the responsibility. Sometimes as a fast bowler, you go down to fine leg and switch off but I loved being involved in every decision, right in the thick of things. And given the opportunity, of course, who wouldn’t?” Jasprit Bumrah told The Guardian in an interview.

While making a point that fast bowlers can be good leaders, Bumrah cited Australia's Pat Cummins as an example.

“Cummins plays for Australia, but the number of matches differs and that kind of thing. Not many seamers have done it before. But it’s a good example that yes, fast bowlers are the smart ones, they do a hard job and they know what to do around the game,” Jasprit Bumrah said.

The 30-year-old had given a similar statement back in 2022 after he was promoted as the vice-captain for the ODI series against South Africa.

“If given an opportunity, it would be an honour. I don’t think any player would say no. There’s no bigger feeling than that,” Bumrah had said back then.

Reports this year suggested that Bumrah was also eyeing the Mumbai Indians (MI) captaincy and was not impressed with the franchise's decision to bring back Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans (GT) and hand over the baton to him from Rohit Sharma.