Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik discussed pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s potential as India captain. Following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the T20 format after India's successful T20 World Cup campaign, there were talks of appointing Bumrah as captain.
However, Suryakumar Yadav, Bumrah's Mumbai Indians teammate, was eventually named T20I captain.
Karthik spoke about Bumrah's potential as India's captain while asking fan queries on Cricbuzz. He emphasized the necessity of keeping Bumrah fit for critical matches and advised that taking on the added burden of leadership may increase the pace spearhead's danger of injury.
"Calm, cool, and most importantly good maturity... but he's a fast bowler. So how can we play him in all three formats? That is the BIGGEST question the selectors could have had," Karthik responded to a fan question on Cricbuzz.
Karthik further elaborated on his stance, describing Bumrah as a "Kohinoor diamond" for Indian cricket, whose well-being must be carefully managed.
"Being a fast bowler, especially at Bumrah's level, it is so important to protect him and play him in important matches. I keep saying this about Bumrah, he is like a Kohinoor diamond – we have to protect him, take care of him, and ensure that he lasts as long as possible. Because whenever Bumrah plays, in any format, he makes an impact. That's what we want. To burden him with captaincy and then see him end up playing a lot of series and injuring himself would be a huge problem," Karthik added.
Jasprit Bumrah has been lauded as a smart cricketer. He has captained India in a one-off Test against England in 2022 and a three-match T20I series against Ireland.