Jasprit Bumrah has always been in our leadership group: Rohit Sharma

India skipper Rohit Sharma has vindicated Jasprit Bumrah’s promotion as the vice-captain for the three-Test series against New Zealand, terming the lead pacer as an integral part of the leadership group.

Bumrah’s elevation to vice-captaincy for the Test series came as a bit of surprise as India did not have a deputy to Rohit in the recent series against Bangladesh. The decision has been viewed as a precursor to Bumrah stepping in as India’s skipper during the tour to Australia. Rohit is set to miss at least one Test Down Under due to personal reasons.

“Bumrah has played a lot of cricket. I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. He understands the game pretty well. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. When you talk to him, he understands the game,” Rohit said.

“Tactically, I can’t say much because he has not captained much. He was captain in one Test match and a couple of T20s, I guess,” he added.

Bumrah had led India in the rescheduled Test against England in 2022 and marshalled the side in the T20I series against Ireland last year. “He understands what is required. When you are in a situation where you need a leader to step up, I think Bumrah will be one of them. So, over the past, he’s always been in our leadership group,” said Rohit.

The 37-year-old said his premier pacer has seamlessly moved to the role of a mentor to the young pacers in the team. “Whether it is speaking to the bowlers who have just come into the squad, whether it is discussing about how to move forward as a team, he’s always been part of that leadership group. So, it’s probably the right thing to just have him around and speak to the bowlers and internally discuss how to take the team forward,” he said.

Waiting for Shami

Rohit also virtually ruled out Mohammed Shami from the upcoming Test tour of Australia, saying that the pacer’s recovery from an ankle surgery has been hampered by swelling in knees and it would not be right to take an “undercooked” version of him for the marquee showdown.

Shami last played for India during the ODI World Cup final last year and has been recuperating from an ankle surgery after that.

“To be honest, right now, it’s pretty difficult for us to make a call on him, whether he’ll be fit for this series or Australia series. He recently had swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual,” Rohit said. “He was in the process of getting fit, getting close to 100 per cent, he had swelling in his knee, that put him back a little bit in his recovery. So, he had to start again. Right now, he’s at NCA, he’s working with the physios and the doctors at NCA,” he added.

Rohit said the team management wants Shami to regain full fitness before returning to top-flight cricket.