I refused BCCI's offer of Test captaincy: Jasprit Bumrah

Senior India bowler Jasprit Bumrah has said he refused the Indian Test captaincy, offered to him by the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) during the Indian Premier League. Speaking to Sky Sports, Bumrah said that he was managing his workload and needed to be smarter to play for a prolonged amount of time.

Bumrah, who has been injury-prone for several years now, recently pulled out midway through the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The injury forced Bumrah to miss the Champions Trophy, one that India won under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.

Bumrah said that the BCCI wanted him to take over the Indian team from the England series, much before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli called time on their



careers.

"Before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired — during the IPL, I had spoken to BCCI, that I have discussed workload going forward in a five-match Test series. I have spoken to people who manage my back — we came to the conclusion that I have to be a little more smart. Then I called the BCCI that I don't want to be looked at for the leadership role because I won't be able to play all the Test matches," Jasprit Bumrah told Sky Sports in an interview.

"BCCI was looking at me for the leadership role, but I had to say no to them because it's not ideal when someone is leading for 3 Tests, then someone else has to lead the rest of the Tests. So it's not fair for the team, as I wanted to put the team first," Jasprit Bumrah concluded.