There was no official vice-captain for Team India in the home Test series against Bangladesh, but there was a change against New Zealand. Jasprit Bumrah has again been given the responsibility of vice-captaincy. This means that Bumrah will play in all three matches against the Kiwi team and even if he rests in any one match, he will remain associated with the team. If he takes a break, will another player be given the vice-captaincy again? These are some questions to which no one has direct answers.
However, by declaring Bumrah as the vice-captain again, Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues decided that the speculations that were going on about Shubman Gill would be put to an end. The last two Test series (against England and then Bangladesh) have been very good for Gill and he is also being seen as a future Test captain. The reason for this was that Gill was recently made the captain of the T20 team on the Zimbabwe tour. But, by not giving Gill the vice-captaincy, the selectors have also given many indications regarding future leadership.
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The first indication is that in the near future, India is probably not going to get a captain like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who will play every match in all three formats. Team India's schedule is now so busy that only Suryakumar Yadav will be seen captaining the T20 team for the next one year. Most of the players who won the teen match series against Bangladesh will be part of the series to be held in South Africa in November. At the same time, the Test team and India A will be on the tour of Australia. India A means red ball players which can be seen captained by Rituraj Gaikwad. In fact, Gaikwad will also be a strong contender for future Test captaincy. It is a different matter that he has not played any Test yet.
Getting vice-captaincy is not a guarantee of becoming captain.
But, becoming vice-captain in Test does not at all mean that you will definitely get captaincy in future. Bumrah got the chance to captain the Test for the first time in Birmingham, England in 2022 when Rohit was out of the team at the last moment due to Covid. This time too, Bumrah can be seen captaining in the first or second Test on the Australia tour if the regular captain takes a break due to personal reasons.
Why didn't you turn towards KL Rahul?
The question is why the selectors did not turn to KL Rahul, who had played the captaincy role in South Africa a few years ago when regular captain Kohli was not available for some matches. In fact, Rahul's lack of consistency in his game has currently taken him out of the race for not only captaincy but also vice-captaincy. Rahul's situation has become almost the same as that of Ajinkya Rahane some time ago. Rahane was the vice-captain on the West Indies tour in 2023 but after that, due to not being successful as a batsman, he is no longer a part of the team.
Jadeja-Ashwin could never become vice-captain
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, despite being veteran test players, were never even vice-captains.
While Cheteshwar Pujara definitely got this opportunity a few years ago. Even if only for a few matches. Among these players, young Rishabh Pant also got the responsibility of vice-captain but not in Test cricket. Many experts also believe that Pant is the most suitable contender for the Test team as captain for the future. He is also a match winner, now experienced and also a wicketkeeper like Dhoni. Pant's relationship with current captain Rohit Sharma is also very good. So in such a situation the question arises that why was Pant not made the vice-captain again?
Selectors' stance clear regarding Pant
There are two reasons for this. Number 1 is that the selectors want Pant to play on the Australia tour without any additional responsibilities in the same style in which he played an important role in winning the last two Test series. The second reason is that Pant has been away from the Test team for more than a year and even though he has made a brilliant comeback against Bangladesh, it would be premature to give him the responsibility of vice-captaincy at the moment.
Would it have been right to make a young player the vice captain?
Another reason for giving vice-captaincy to Bumrah is that Bumrah is not seen captaining in T20 and ODI at present. Surya is in T20 and Rohit Sharma in ODI till Champions Trophy. After that, there will be a lot of suspense on what kind of outline Rohit Sharma makes for ODI cricket or what the selectors think about it next year. In such a situation, till the tour of England next year i.e. 3 against New Zealand, 5 against Australia and 6 Test matches in England including the World Test Championship, it will mean a total of 14 Test matches in the next 10 months. In such a situation, again the important question is that considering the fitness of the senior players, would it not have been better if a young player was given the responsibility of vice-captain? Because it may not be possible for Bumrah to play in 14 out of 14 Tests.
Every player respects Bumrah
Maybe the selectors are not thinking too far ahead yet. At present, everyone's focus is on winning the Test series in Australia for the third consecutive time. And the decision to give vice-captaincy to Bumrah is also related to the same thing. The victory in the series in Australia, the form and fitness of the senior players will in many ways decide who are the long-haul horses as future captain and vice-captain. At present, the good thing for the team is that a vice-captain like Bumrah has tremendous respect not only from captain Rohit but also from former captain Virat Kohli and future captaincy contenders including Gill, Pant, Rahul also consider this senior player to be strong. And they don't have any kind of problem. With Bumrah being the vice-captain of this team, players like Ashwin and Jadeja also feel very comfortable with whom this Gujarat bowler has a very friendly relationship.
Tags: India vs new zealand, Indian Cricket Team, jasprit bumrah, Team india
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 14, 2024, 10:12 IST
