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Jasprit Bumrah will play his first Test match in India since March 2022 when he takes the field in Hyderabad against England on Thursday. It will be his 11th Test against England and the last time he faced them, Bumrah was in fact captain of the Indian team. The ace fast bowler, who is vice-captain of the Indian Test side, led the team in the postponed fifth Test at Edgbaston when regular skipper Rohit Sharma had contracted Covid-19.
While India lost the match, it was one in which the visitors stayed ahead for large parts before Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow gave them a rude introduction to Bazball with both smashing unbeaten centuries in a 269-run stand that came in just 316 balls. Bumrah picked five wickets in that match and also smashed an unbeaten 31 in 16 balls during the first Indian innings. 29 of those runs came in a single over off Stuart Broad which took him past West Indies great Brian Lara for most runs scored by a batter in a single over of a Test match. Broad conceded a total of 35 runs in that over, the most expensive in the history of the format.
It was hence a memorable game and Bumrah has said that if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t hesitate to take over as India’s permanent Test captain.
“I did one game and it was the utmost honour,” Bumrah was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “Playing Test cricket is great, captaining was even better. Yes, we lost but we were ahead in the match and I loved the responsibility. Sometimes as a fast bowler you go down to fine leg and switch off but I loved being involved in every decision, right in the thick of things. And given the opportunity, of course, who wouldn’t?”
‘Fast bowlers are the smart ones’
Examples of fast bowlers becoming successful captains, particularly in Test cricket, is rare but one of Bumrah’s contemporaries is a prime example. Australia’s Pat Cummins, widely rated among the best fast bowlers in the world across formats, has led Australia to victory in the World Test Championship and the World Cup last year, apart from retaining the Ashes in England. Bumrah said that the number of matches Australia play may be different but Cummins is a good example.
“(Cummins) plays for Australia, the number of matches differs and that kind of thing. Not many [seamers] have done it before. But it’s a good example that yes, fast bowlers are the smart ones, they do a hard job and they know what to do around the game,” said Bumrah.
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