’Above my paygrade’: Jasprit Bumrah speaks on becoming Team India captain amid reports of Shubman Gill replacing him

With reports that Shubman Gill will become the new India vice-captain for tests in the upcoming Bangladesh series and may replace ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, Indian cricket has started to take a new shape.

RevSportz, quoting a BCCI official recently, reported that this also indicates that Gill may be seen in the vice-captaincy role during the New Zealand and Australia series later this year.

In the recent announcement, Gill was named India's new vice-captain in white-ball cricket and will be deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is and Rohit Sharma in ODIs.

However, Bumrah still feels that if given the opportunity to lead the country, he is all set to take up the role.

In a conversation with Indian Express recently, Bumrah said, “That is something that I don’t decide I cannot go to you know the team and say now you have to make me Captain. I don’t have that much power and it is above my paygrade.”

'Bowlers are brave captains'

According to Bumrah, bowlers are the smart people as they always fighting the odds. He noted that bowlers make better captains irrespective of the format.

“I feel the bowlers are the smart people because you know, they have to get the batsman out and we are obviously always fighting the odds because the grounds are shorter, the bats are better. I don’t remember any article or any technology coming that okay, we are helping the bowlers to swing the ball a lot more.

“Obviously, the people enjoy the ball being thrown around and like to see sixes being hit. That’s okay. So I feel that because bowlers are fighting the odds and have to do the hard job and not hiding behind a bat. They’re not hiding behind a flat wicket. We’re right in the firing line,” he said.

He mentioned that when a team loses a match, he bowlers that are being blamed.

“When we lose a game, it’s usually the bowlers that are being blamed. It’s a hard job. So I feel that, you know, I take a lot of pride in doing that job, it requires a lot of guts to also, you know, physically put a lot of strain on your body and you still enjoy the game and still create an impact. So you get Yes, you have to face a lot of challenges that come along with it," IE quoted Bumrah as saying.

“So I feel that because of all of these challenges, you always find new ways the bowlers find different ways of succeeding and fighting the odds," he added.

'Bowlers are the smart ones'

Bumrah also noted that World Cup-winning captains Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Pat Cummins have led their team with their smartness.

“I think leadership requires you to be brave. So I am also always of the opinion that we see whenever we’ve seen Pat Cummins doing really well. When I was young I have seen Wasim Akram being the captain. Kapil Dev has won the World Cup for India. Imran Khan has won a World Cup for Pakistan. So bowlers are the smart ones. It’s just that okay, sometimes physically, it’s stressful for them. So I can understand that sometimes leadership has gone to the batters but it is the way it is. And it depends on what the team feels is right and how they want to take the team forward. But in my opinion, I really think highly of bowlers, and that I am a fan till date of fast bowlers. So I’m of the opinion they are the smart ones,” he added.