Split Captaincy has begun in Indian cricket, Jasprit Bumrah as Test skipper for England series would be in order

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So, all the heartless hacks have written that Jasprit Bumrah is unfit for Test captaincy as he 'breaks down' too often. If that is the case, why is the coaching staff not being questioned on why he was over-bowled, and over-used, across formats? Like flogging as punishment, Bumrah was pushed to extreme limits in two Test series, against New Zealand at home and in Australia.

The 32-wicket haul in the BGT Series was defining. Bumrah is King. And for all the anti-Bumrah gang now wagging their tails, the lone Test India won in Perth was under his leadership. How is that being forgotten. It is insensitive on the part of the BCCI and the heartless hacks they did not have the courage to question how serious the nature of Bumrah's injury is.

For those who do not know the difference between a back stress fracture and a spasm and if there has been any muscular-skeletal flare-up, ignorance is bliss. All the emotional posts on social media by his wife Sanjan Ganesan still show Bumrah smiling. The only news that is being circulated, he will go to the NCA for rehab.

Does he need to do just that or work with his own strength and conditioning experts, time will tell. The NCA is just hype. A case is being made out as if Bumrah needs to play every Test. Why is it not being mentioned even Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did take 'off' in Tests? Workload management is a must for Bumrah as Test captain.

Hopefully, for the Test series in England, he needs a good deputy. It is more or less certain, that after the Champions Trophy, Rohit Sharma will give up captaincy. Whether the selectors want to pick him or not for the England series is their call. Rohit Sharma has asked the BCCI to look for the next captain.

As written before in MyKhel in an interview with Surinder Khanna, the day has come when India needs split captaincy, across three formats. It is already visible. Suryakumar Yadav is the T20 India captain with a new deputy in Axar Patel. For those in agony Hardik Pandya is not the deputy, read the writing on the wall.

Pandya has not been ignored. He still has many personal issues to deal with. Being asked to stay away from leadership does not mean his contribution is not being recognised in domestic cricket. He is valuable and respected. Period.

In the ODI format for the Champions Trophy, there can be no doubt Rohit Sharma is the best leader. It is good the team selection has been delayed to January 19 as the selectors want to look at the performances in the Vijay Hazare trophy. It is also as crystal clear as running water left to coach Gautam Gambhir, he would have loved to see Rohit walk away as Test captain.

No coach has ever won a battle against a star player, and Rohit will be there till he wants. As far as the ODIs are concerned, nobody dare question the places for Rohit and Virat Kohli. Rohit did a famous TV interview when he was not even in the 16 in the Sydney Test and has shown he is still the boss.

When he said "he is going nowhere," the meaning was not very clear. Now it is and the Mumbai Raja walks around in style as was seen at the Wankhede Stadium 50th anniversary celebrations on Sunday. One must not forget, that the Bombay/Mumbai lobby is strong.

Someone like Sunny Gavaskar backing Bumrah for Test captaincy tells you a lot. Bumrah needs to be treated with care. All those thinking he should be flogged in the Champions Trophy are cruel. Preserve him for Test cricket and then see where he fits in other formats. As regards the IPL and Mumbai Indians, the sheer presence of Jasprit Bumrah is enough.

He is like the lucky mascot needed. Be it in IPL or for Indian Test cricket. And, yes, for those who may have forgotten, Rishabh Pant was the Test vice-captain before as well. The final decision can wait on Test captaincy for the England series, the BCCI has two clear options - Bumrah and Pant.