Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that Indian vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team in the Australia test series if Rohit Sharma is unavailable.
The concern over “who will lead the Indian cricket team in the Australia tour” was raised right after Rohit Sharma was rumoured to skip the first test of the India tour of Australia 2024 to be with his wife who are expecting their second baby next week.
A report stated that “Rohit Sharma won’t travel with the team to Australia. There were suggestions he might travel but now he isn’t. His wife’s delivery is expected next week”.
After the third and final Test against New Zealand, even Rohit Sharma admitted that he is not sure about his availability for the opening Test of the five-match series against Australia.
Right after the news started to spread like wildfire, many cricket experts started to raise their concerns over Rohit’s role as captain for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar came forward and said that vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah should be handed the captaincy for the entire series against Australia if Rohit misses the first Test.
But former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch backed Rohit Sharma and disagreed with Suni’s statement and said “I disagree with Sunny on that totally. Rohit Sharma is the captain of the Indian cricket team. If you need to stay at home because your wife’s going to have a baby that’s such a beautiful moment and you take all the time that you need in that regard”.
The Indian team will depart for Australia in two batches. The first batch left on Sunday night, while the other will leave on Monday. As per a report, Indian captain Rohit Sharma decided to stay back in India for the birth of his second child.
To put an end to the captaincy controversies, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
“Jasprit Bumrah is the Vice Captain. So obviously if Rohit Sharma is unavailable, He will lead the Team”, Gautam Gambhir said.
The first test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024 will be played between November 22 and 26 in Perth Stadium, Perth.
