Team India’s highly-anticipated Test tour of Australia is all set to get underway on November 22 in Perth. In their last two tours, they had performed exceptionally well to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
However, the team find itself in a precarious position this time around after losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home. Furthermore, India’s regular skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to miss the series opener due to the birth of his newborn son.
In Rohit's absence, India’s ace pacer and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will step in as captain. Sharma is expected to rejoin the team before the second Test in Adelaide.
Recently, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar suggested that if Rohit is not there right from the beginning, he should play the rest of the games as a mere player while his deputy should lead the team for the entire series.
Speaking on this matter, former spinner Harbhajan Singh said he expects chaos if India go on to win under Bumrah’s captaincy.
"If you win the first two Tests, then all Indians would want Bumrah to remain as captain. On the contrary, if India lose both of those games, they would want Rohit to return. We change sides very quickly. I'm not talking about Sunny sir here; I'm talking about the general public. I feel it's a great suggestion to have one captain for the entire series. That would be better. If India lose, nobody will question it. However, if India win and Rohit returns for the subsequent matches and then the team lose, that will spark a whole different scenario. But if India lose under both Rohit and Bumrah, they might want Virat Kohli as captain," Harbhajan said during an interaction with Jatin Sapru on YouTube.
When asked about Gavaskar's opinion of keeping Bumrah in charge of the entire five-Test series, Harbhajan added: "It might not be a bad idea. There shouldn't be any problem as well because Bumrah has the ability to lead a team."
After the series opener in Perth, the action will shift to Adelaide (December 6-10), where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are slated to take place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).