Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has said that he himself had refused to take the captaincy. Not only this, Bumrah declared himself available for the first Test against England. The 31-year-old pacer spoke to Dinesh Karthik on SKY Sports. On the question of captaincy, Bumrah said- ‘I had refused BCCI and selectors for captaincy. There are no fancy stories, no controversies or any headline statements that I was sacked or I was not looked at.’
After Rohit Sharma’s retirement, many former cricketers had supported making Bumrah the captain. The Indian team is on a tour of England. The team has to play a series of 5 Test matches there. The first match will be played in Leeds from June 20. Bumrah said, I had spoken to the board before Rohit and Kohli retired. I informed them about my workload. After the treatment for back pain, I also spoke to the surgeon.
There was a lot of workload so we came to the conclusion that I had to become a little smarter. After which I told the board, ‘I don’t want to be seen as a leader.’ Bumrah declared himself available for the first Test against England. Talking about his fitness, he said- ‘I want to play at least three matches. At present, this is the plan. No number has been decided yet.
But, I am ready for the first match. We have to see how things go ahead.’