Sydney: Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes Jasprit Bumrah has the smarts to operate as both a bowler and a captain during the much-anticipated Test series against Australia.
With the Indian captain Rohit Sharma having stated that he is ‘not sure’ of his availability for the first Test against Australia in Perth later this month, Bumrah is among the likely contenders to lead the team in his stead – the pacer has once previously captained the side, against England in Birmingham in 2022.
ICC Hall of Famer Ponting believes the 30-year-old is experienced enough to take the dual responsibility as the skipper and the leader of India’s pace unit, and cited the example of the
current Australian captain Pat Cummins to make a case for the Indian quick.
“Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him,” Ponting said on the ICC Review. “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.
Ponting also believes that Bumrah would benefit as a captain by the presence of experienced campaigners in India’s Test squad for Australia.
In the 18-member group are the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant, all of whom were part of India’s last two Test series triumphs in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
“In that Indian team, there's a lot of experience around him,” said Ponting.
“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.
It was the presence of stalwarts such as Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer around him in the Australian team, Ponting admits, that helped him during his spell as captain.
“I liked to ask the questions of Gilchrist, Hayden, and Langer,” he said. “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,” Ponting said.
In terms of the pressure on Bumrah as the pace spearhead, Ponting believes the 30-year-old will ‘thrive’ in it, with a place in next year’s final at stake in the five-match Test series.
“Guys like that tend to thrive on the extra pressure and the responsibility,” said Ponting. “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.”