Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has put his weight behind Jasprit Bumrah to shine as a leader in Rohit Sharma’s absence in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Sharma hasn’t travelled with the team due to personal reasons and he is all set to miss the opening Test at Perth.
Bumrah, Rohit’s deputy on the tour, will lead the team for the second time in Test matches. Bumrah has been India’s premier fast bowler for some time and he is going to hold the key.
The ace pacer has scalped 32 wickets in seven Test matches against Australia at an impressive average of 21.25.
Speaking to ICC Review, Ricky Ponting said, “Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him. Guys like that tend to thrive on the extra pressure and the responsibility. He’s always been the leader of the attack for a long time anyway. Whether that’s red ball, T20 or ODIs, he’s the main man.”
Ponting feels Bumrah will need to find the right balance in his bowling as a leader of the team.
“I think that was always the question on Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well. How much is he going to bowl himself? Is he going to bowl himself too much? Is he not going to bowl himself enough? But someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to be bowling, when he needs to have a spell,” he said.
The two-time World Cup-winning captain added that Bumrah has got experienced players like Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja around him.
“In that Indian team, there’s a lot of experience around him. And it’s really important, I think, that you use the experience around you even when you are the captain, and just ask the appropriate questions at the right time because no matter how much cricket we’ve played, we’re not always going to be right,” Ponting said.
“I liked to ask the questions of Gilchrist, Hayden, and Langer. Ask them where they thought the game was, and what we needed to do. At the end of the day, as a captain, you’re the one that’s making that final decision, but whatever advice you can get along the way can only be good.”
The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.
