Bumrah vs Cummins: Fans speculate fiery battle after pacer named vice-captain for NZ Tests

IND vs NZ: Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the vice-captain for the Test series against New Zealand. Fans speculated that Bumrah might lead India in the Perth Test against Australia if Rohit Sharma pulls out.

In Short

• Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the Indian Test vice-captain
• Bumrah has captained India in one Test and 2 T20Is until now
• India will play 3 Tests against New Zealand followed by 5 Tests vs Australia

Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the vice-captain as India named a strong 15-member squad for the Test series against New Zealand. Bumrah has had the experience of being captain, having led India in the rescheduled fifth Test against England back in 2022 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. He also captained the Men in Blue in a couple of T20Is on the tour of Ireland last year.

Fans, in the meantime, are speculating a fiery battle between Bumrah and Australian captain Pat Cummins in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Earlier, it was learned that Rohit Sharma could miss the opening Test at the Perth Stadium due to personal reasons. If Rohit stays unavailable for the first Test, Bumrah might well lead the Indian team.

India’s squad for the three Tests against New Zealand

Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep

Jasprit Bumrah shines bright for India

Bumrah has had an impressive year thus far, regardless of the format he has taken part in. Earlier this year, he became the fastest to 150 wickets in Test cricket in the match against England in Visakhapatnam. During the same series, the speedster had also claimed the No.1 spot in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers.

Bumrah also played a huge role in India beating Bangladesh in the two-match Test series. In 38 Tests thus far, the pacer has taken 170 wickets with 10 five-wicket hauls to his name. With Bumrah in the team, India are also comfortably placed on the top of the table in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship.

The Test series against New Zealand is scheduled to get underway on October 16 with the series opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.