Jasprit Bumrah became the 36th Indian captain to lead the team in Test cricket. Bumrah’s appointment as the Test skipper of the side has been nothing less than special. Team India found themselves in deep trouble after their all-format skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the one-off Test against England due to Covid-19. Bumrah might have handled the responsibilities of vice-captain before but captaincy is something new.
The Edgbaston Test is scheduled to be Bumrah’s first assignment as a leader of a team. The 28-year-old has not even led a team in domestic cricket, let alone international cricket. Former India opener Wasim Jaffer, while congratulating Bumrah on Twitter, pointed out one interesting anecdote.
“Congratulations and good luck to Jasprit Bumrah. You can take inspiration from the fact that last Indian who captained the country before leading in FC/List A/IPL ended up taking India to no.1 Test ranking and winning 3 ICC trophies,” Jaffer wrote in his post.
Congratulations and good luck to @Jaspritbumrah93 👊🏽 you can take inspiration from the fact that last Indian who captained the country before leading in FC/List A/IPL eneded up taking India to no.1 Test ranking and winning 3 ICC trophies 😉 #ENGvIND— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 30, 2022
Just like Bumrah, MS Dhoni, with no prior experience kicked off his stint as Indian captain. Eventually, he ended up doing a remarkable job. Dhoni won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy back in 2013. Dhoni is also the only skipper to lift all three ICC trophies. In Tests, he also helped team India attain the top spot in ICC rankings.
Dhoni has led the Indian team in 332 international matches. He is also the only captain to lead a team in 50-plus matches in each of the three formats.
Coming back to the Edgbaston Test, the fifth and final match will mark the conclusion of the series that started back in 2021. The Bumrah-led Indian team came into the fixture after securing a 2-1 lead in the series.
The Test match is also pretty significant as it will impact the World Test Championship standings. A win in Birmingham will help India consolidate their position in the third spot in the standings. With a win percentage of 58.33 India have 77 points in their kitty. England, on the other hand, find themselves at the seventh spot with a win percentage of 28.89.
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