Jasprit Bumrah reveals reason behind excusing from India’s Test captaincy

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Tuesday, explained the reason behind not accepting Test captaincy, stating he ‘wanted to put the team first’.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was looking at Bumrah as the leadership candidate following the shocking retirement of experienced top-order batter Rohit Sharma.

Bumrah was backed by several cricket pundits for the role but the right-arm pacer opted out, which led to Shubman Gill’s appointment as the new India’s Test captain.

The star pacer has now issued a clarification on the decision and emphasised there were no controversies and also that he had communicated his concerns over workload management to the BCCI.

Bumrah further shared that he decided against taking up the role after consulting with the surgeon, who treated his back injury.

"There's no fancy stories to it [captaincy]," Bumrah told former teammate Dinesh Karthik during an interview.

"There is no controversy or there's no headlining statements that I was sacked or I was not looked after. Before Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) retired during the IPL, I had spoken to BCCI that I have discussed about my workloads going forward in a five Test-match series.

“I've spoken to the people who have managed my back. I've spoken to the surgeon as well, who's always spoken to me about how smart you have to be about the workloads.

Jasprit Bumrah also cited his inability to lead the team in all of the five-match Test series as one of the primary factors behind his decision.

"I did speak to him and then we came to a conclusion that I have to be a little more smart. I called the BCCI and said I don't want to be looked at in a leadership role because I won't be able to give [it my] all Test matches coming a five Test-match series.

“So then, yes, the BCCI was looking at me at leadership. But then I had to say no. It's not fair for the team as well that in a five Test-match series, someone is leading in three matches and someone else in two matches. It's not fair on the team and I always wanted to put the team first."