Suresh Raina Jumps into India Captain Debate as Gambhir's Comments on Bumrah Stir Controversy, Rohit Sharma's Future Uncertain

On India's upcoming tour of Australia, the team is facing captaincy questions once again as Rohit Sharma is set to miss the initial Test in Perth due to the birth of his second child. However, former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has come out in support of vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, stating that the talented pacer has the potential to be a strong leader for the team.

In an interview with Times of India, Raina spoke about how Bumrah will fit well in his emergency role in place of Rohit. "For Bumrah, it's going to be a new opportunity. I think he is a good leader and has a good cricketing brain. Even Gauti bhai (coach Gautam Gambhir) said in the media that Jasprit has that astute leadership, and I think he will be different.”

Bumrah has captained India’s Test team on one occasion in the past, in the 2022 one-off match against England in Edgbaston. India lost that match to the freshly-anointed ‘Bazball’ England team, unable to defend 378 on that occasion.

Raina also indicated that Bumrah could stand to emulate a very similar figure to him in the Australia camp, in the shape of the hosts’ captain Pat Cummins, who led the team to the double World Test Championship and World Cup wins over India in 2023.

“Like if you see Pat Cummins, he won the World Cup for them (Australia), has done really well as a player and as a captain," said Raina. “I think Bumrah is close to that. If you look at it from the point of an opportunity, it's a gun opportunity for him.”

Following Ajinkya Rahane’s star turn as stand-in captain for Virat Kohli, who was on his own paternity leave during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21, India will be quietly optimistic despite the need for a change in leadership.

Raina has plenty of confidence in the ability of Bumrah as a leader, even claiming that Bumrah can be the one that India turn to if they are looking for a leader of the future. “If he does well, I think we will have a future leader in Test cricket.”

India began their campaign in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Optus Stadium in Perth on November 22, but they are due to play an intra-team warm-up match at the WACA in the lead-up to the all-important series.