Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has backed India pacer Jasprit Bumrah to take over as India Test captain on a full-time basis. Bumrah, who captained two Tests in Australia in the absence of Rohit Sharma, is currently dealing with back issues.
Manjrekar's comments come immediately following India's 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Since the defeat, senior Indian players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have come under flak for their constantly poor batting performance.
On the other hand, Bumrah led India to one Test victory, in Perth, and then also in Sydney, but he missed most of the Test with injury and Virat Kohli took over.
Manjrekar believes that if Rohit Sharma steps out, Bumrah should be promoted to captain. In terms of workload considerations, Manjrekar stated that Bumrah can opt out of certain bilateral series that are not among India's top priorities.
"It's a no-brainer for me. The next Test series is in England and Bumrah has to be the Test captain. Rohit Sharma as a batter has not done enough considering the loss to NZ at home plus he opted out of the playing XI because he did not fit in. There are too many uncertainties around him and I think that Bumrah is at the top of his game. There was nothing in the Australia series that we saw that he is not captaincy material," Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Manjrekar also stated that India can find a backup to captain the team when Bumrah is injured or unavailable. He said that India should have a vice-captain who walks into the team based on performance.
"When he is unfit or missing we will think about who will lead the team next. There is so much of international cricket happening. You have to see and pick out which ones you are going to play. He can be rested in the bilaterals in the home series. Pick out your marquee series, and make Bumrah captain in those. The choice of vice-captain is important, I have no idea who will be. But I know that there are guys who should not be. There are guys who would want to be, but the first thing you want is that the vice-captain should walk into the team based on their performances. There were talks of Shubman Gill walking in as a vice-captain in Australia, but look how that has changed," he added.
It remains to be seen who will be India's captain for the England Test tour, as the focus shifts to limited-overs cricket with the home white-ball series against England and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 coming up.
