IND vs NZ: Jasprit Bumrah named India vice-captain for Test series

Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah was on Friday named vice-captain of India for the upcoming three-match home Test series against New Zealand, strongly indicating his possible elevation to the leadership role when the team travels to Australia from next month.

The three-match series against the Kiwis will start on November 16 in Bengaluru, followed by the second Test in Pune from October 24 and third game in Mumbai from November 1.

As reported by PTI on October 10, regular captain Rohit Sharma could skip one of the first two Test matches in Australia owing to personal reasons.

The five-match Test series in Australia starts on November 22 in Perth and the second match will be held at Adelaide from December 6, and there is a possibility that Rohit could give either the first or the second game a miss.

Adding strength to that thought is the fact that India did not name a vice-captain for the recent home series against Bangladesh, which they won 2-0.

Bumrah has prior experience of leading