NEW DELHI: Jasprit Bumrah was promoted to vice captain for the three-Test series against New Zealand, and India captain Rohit Sharma defended the move on Tuesday, calling the lead pacer a valuable member of the leadership group with extensive "understanding" of the game.
It was a bit of a surprise that Bumrah was promoted to vice captain for the Test series, which gets underway in Bengaluru on Wednesday, as India had no deputy for Rohit during the previous series against Bangladesh.
The choice is thought to be a prelude to Bumrah taking over as captain of India for the tour of Australia.
Rohit is expected to miss at least one Test Down Under for personal reasons, according to reports from last week.
"Look, 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 shoulder. When you talk to him, he understands the game," Rohit told reporters during his pre-match press meet after rain hampered India's training session.
"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 led India in the delayed Test match against England in 2022 and managed the team 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.
According to Rohit, his leading pacer has converted to a mentor for the team's younger fast bowlers.
"Whether it is speaking to the bowlers who have just come into the squad, whether it is getting internally with the team to discuss 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," added Rohit.
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