Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has already announced that T20 World Cup 2021 will be his last assignment as T20I captain. His deputy Rohit Sharma may get the full-time T20I captaincy after the mega event while KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are also in contention for the top job. However, former Indian pacer, Ashish Nehra believes India should also consider the speedster Jaspreet Bumrah for the role due to his consistency in all three formats.
"After Rohit Sharma, we are hearing the names of Rishabh Pant and KL. Rishabh Pant has travelled around the world but has also carried drinks and has even been left out from the team before. KL Rahul returned to Test cricket because Mayank Agarwal was injured. So Jasprit Bumrah can be an option too. As Ajay said, he's sturdy, a certainty in the team, and is always in the XI for all formats. It's nowhere written in the rule book that fast bowlers can't be captains," Nehra told Cricbuzz.
Nehra pointed out other fast bowling greats who have led their country in international cricket to back up his opinion.
“Courtney Walsh was a captain, Wasim Akram was a captain, Waqar Younis was a captain too.There's nothing like that," the 42-year old asserted.
Moreover, India’s former batter, Ajay Jadeja also reckons that Bumrah has a sharp mind and understanding of the game to become India’s next white-ball captain.
"He always plays white-ball cricket. And the qualities required to be a captain understanding the game - he does it the best there's no doubt about that. If you are thinking about the future and going out of the box, then he has the mind to be the captain. It's possible to look at him as the next Indian captain because, for it, you have to be a certainty in the team and have an understanding of the game," Jadeja lauded India's fast bowling spearhead.
India will play Namibia on Monday in their last Super 12 clash but before that, they will keep a close eye on New Zealand and Afghanistan match on Sunday as their hopes of reaching the semi-final rely on the latter's victory.
