Jasprit Bumrah’s Bold Ambition: From Bowler to Self-Styled Captain

Jasprit Bumrah's Ambition: From Bowler to Self-Styled Captain

Captaincy holds a particular place in Jasprit Bumrah’s heart among all of his abilities on the cricket field. He’s a magician with the ball, and many, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, consider him a one-of-a-kind bowler. But even a magician has desires, and Bumrah’s one is to be captain. He is his “favorite captain,” so much so that he had no reservations about using his name to answer a quick question about “the greatest Indian cricket captain ever.”

However, none of them is Jasprit Bumrah’s favorite. He is his favorite. “See, my favorite captain is myself because I’ve captained a few games.” When asked by The Indian Express to select the greatest Indian captain, he replied, “Obviously, there are great captains, but I would take my name as my favorite captain.” Bumrah has captained India in three matches: one Test against England and two Twenty20 Internationals against Ireland.

Jasprit Bumrah’s Masterclass

It was South Africa‘s final recognized batting combination. With 21 needed from 15, it was still their game. But not when Bumrah was present. He bowled a delivery good enough to dismiss Jansen in the 18th over of a T20 World Cup final. Everything about that ball was flawless, including its pace, angle, length, and bounce. There was nothing the tall batsman could do. 

To his credit, Marco attempted a defensive push, but the ball sliced him in half and touched the top of his stumps. The rest, as they say, is history, or more specifically, the Bumrah narrative. However, the topic here is not about Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling. Words would fall short of defining his brilliance, and it would take a truly courageous man – perhaps even insane – to challenge Bumrah’s claims to be the world’s best bowler across all formats right now. 

Can he make the same claims about his captaincy? But none of them is Bumrah’s favorite. “I would want to take my name as my favorite captain”, he said. “Bumrah strikes me as a ground-level leader,” Mhamnbrey explained. “It’s easy to say a lot and then do nothing. He’s the type of man who says something and then shows everyone how to execute it. People on the team know he does what he says—walks the talk,” he explained.

His Debut as Captain Against England

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That is difficult to say with only three international matches as a sample size, especially because we are discussing Indian cricket. This region has produced several of the world’s most influential cricket captains and Bumrah has played under many. He made his debut under MS Dhoni, the only skipper who has won all three ICC white-ball championships. 

He played for Virat Kohli, who saw Bumrah as a key member of his dream of assembling the most formidable fast-bowling team in Test cricket. Finally, Rohit Sharma, the most successful Indian Test and T20I captain, gave the world his very best throughout his term as Indian captain.

Jasprit Bumrah’s captaincy debut came against England in Birmingham in 2022, when skipper Rohit was sick with Covid. He memorably informed former England opener Mark Butcher that Kapil Dev, not himself, was the first fast bowler to captain India in a Test match. Debate all you want, but Bumrah made it plain from the start that he took captaincy seriously. And he’s adhered to it since. Many believe he would have been a better pick to replace. 

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