India vs Australia 2024 Pink Ball Test: Jasprit Bumrah has all signs of being a good captain, says Cheteshwar Pujara

Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara feels pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah possesses all the qualities of being a good skipper and India should look at him as long term captaincy candidate once Rohit Sharma steps down. In the absence of regular skipper Rohit, Bumrah led an under-pressure Indian team to their most dominant win in Australia.

“He is (a viable long term captaincy option) without any doubt,” Pujara said on ESPNCricinfo website. “The way he has showed that in difficult circumstances when we had a tough series at home and when you are playing a first Test match in Australia and to put up a show like that.”

Really special pic.twitter.com/xIiX2PozNZ

— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) November 25, 2024

“I think he has the capability of leading the team and he’s a team’s man. You look at him he never only talks about himself, he talks about the team, the other players. What advice he would give,” he added.

India were handed a 0-3 home series loss by New Zealand, which also considerably dented their hope of making their third consecutive World Test Championship Final. An all-format bowler, Bumrah produced a mesmerizing opening spell as Australian batters had no answer to Indian’s quality in their own backyard.

“There are times when players don’t need advise and he accepts it, he says that.. if there is an experienced player he will keep quite. That is the sign of a good captain. He is very down to earth, very friendly with players in the dressing room and eager to help and he is good person to chat with. Even outside of cricket he has a humble personality,” Pujara said.

Bumrah will relinquish captaincy as Rohit Sharma returns for the second Test which is a pink ball fixture in Adelaide, starting December 6.

Meanwhile, Australia batter Travis Head feels Bumrah will go down as ‘one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game’ and said he’ll proudly tell his grandchildren about the formidable challenge of facing the Indian pace maestro.

“Jasprit will go down as probably one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game. I think we’re finding that at the moment – how challenging he can be, and it’s nice to play against that,” Head told reporters on Monday.

“It’s gonna be nice to go back and look at your career and go tell the grandkids that you faced him. So not a bad series of playing with him. Hopefully I’ll face a few more times, but he has been challenging,” he added.