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One of India's highly touted bowlers Jasprit Bumrah's elevation as ODI deputy is nothing but a reward of the consistency he has shown over the years across all formats.
The call to load Bumrah with the extra responsibility can also be seen as the selectors' way of avoiding the clutter which seemed coming in the way of going for the new vice-captain role in ODIs.
It won't be surprising if the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel felt inspired by Pat Cummins' recent elevation as Australia's captain while making this choice, a very interesting one considering that two proven Indian Premier League skippers in the names of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were in the mix to become KL Rahul's deputy for the bilateral series against South Africa.
"Look, this is just for one series as Rohit (out injured) is almost certain to come back during the home leg against West Indies and Sri Lanka. Then KL will again become the deputy," a BCCI source privy to selection matters told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"However, the selectors wanted to reward Jassi (Bumrah's nickname) for his consistency as well as cricket brain. That's why he was picked ahead of Pant and Iyer," he said.
ormer chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said that since this was vice-captaincy for just one series, it was an easy decision for selectors.
"Jasprit is a very sensible young man with a lot of rationality. So why not reward him? I like this decision as why can't we make a fast bowler captain, If he is doing well in all formats?" Prasad said, when asked how he viewed the decision.
"Unless you give him an opportunity to be a part of the leadership group, you won't know what to expect of Jasprit. But having said that, I would also say that possibly since it was a decision on vice-captaincy for one series, it was an easy call.
"Had it been for captaincy with both Rohit and Rahul unavailable, it could have been different," the former India keeper-batter added.
While Iyer guided Delhi Capitals to its maiden IPL final in 2020, Pant, who was his deputy, took over the reins in 2021 and lost in the second Qualifiers after finishing on top during the round robin stage.
According to Prasad, the IPL leadership is different from leading the national side and being successful in one isn't an indicator that the player will be successful in the other.
“In IPL, a team might have four to five guaranteed superstars with different drifts and pulls. Then you need to manage at least a couple of domestic players, who may or may not withstand the pressures of franchisee cricket,” he added.
Bumrah's incredible show with the ball across all formats speaks volume of his stature.
He has scalped a total of 280 wickets (106 in Tests, 108 in ODIs and 66 in T20Is) in a span of 147 International matches he has played so far.
Also, in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, the 28-year old put up a good show with the ball as he took 2/16 in the first innings and followed it with 3/50 to play an instrumental role in India's victory against Proteas to lead the three-match Test series 1-0.
India's ODI squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (Wicket keeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicket keeper), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (Vice Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj
