Jasprit Bumrah on India Test Captaincy: Jasprit Bumrah, India’s captain, shared on June 17, 2025, why he isn’t leading India in the five-Test series against England starting June 20.
He was the top choice after Rohit Sharma’s retirement, but Bumrah didn’t choose captaincy and focused on his bowling. In a chat with Dinesh Karthik, citing workload concerns, he said it wouldn’t be wrong for him to get captaincy for some matches, but he doesn’t want to abandon captaincy due to workload.
Shubman Gill is leading India, and people are appreciating Bumrah’s team-first mindset.
Jasprit Bumrah on India Test Captaincy
Jasprit Bumrah was the BCCI’s first pick to replace Rohit Sharma as Test captain after he announced his retirement in 2025, but Bumrah said in an interview that he had called the BCCI to discuss his workload during the IPL.
He asked the BCCI to address his workload during the IPL. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to lead India in three matches and then leave after two, but due to his back injury from the Australia tour in January 2025, he prioritized staying fit and didn’t consider leading the team as important.
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Workload Worries After Injury
Bumrah didn’t take this decision lightly; it came after much discussion with doctors and physios managing his back injury. He told Sky Sports that he spoke to his physio, who asked how he could be smart with his workload.
The BCCI agreed he would play only three Test matches against England to prevent further injury.
Bumrah, who led India in 2024 and registered a victory in Perth, felt splitting captaincy would break team unity.
Shubman Gill Steps Up as Captain
Bumrah is now out of the captaincy race, and Shubman Gill was announced as India’s Test captain in 2025, with Rishabh Pant as vice-captain. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said Bumrah is more important as a bowler than as a captain.
Bumrah backed this and said he likes cricket more than captaincy.
He has taken 155 Test wickets with an average of 20.19, making him a key player in India’s attack in the 2025–27 World Test Championship cycle.
