Mahela Jayawardene applauds Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the rescheduled Test

Veteran Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene has lavished praise on India speedster Jasprit Bumrah, who has recently been appointed captain of Team India for the rescheduled fifth and final Test of the series against England in Edgbaston.

BCCI has announced that Jasprit Bumrah would lead the Indian team in the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston in the absence of the regular captain Rohit Sharma, who has been ruled out due to Covid-19. The Test will begin on Friday, July 1.

“I think it’s incredible if he (Bumrah) gets that opportunity. You rarely see fast bowlers being given that opportunity to captain because it’s a lot of hard work, especially whenever you are playing Test cricket,” said the Sri Lankan batting legend in a video posted by ICC on Friday. 

He continued: “But we’ve seen the trend changing, with Pat Cummins taking over the Australian (Test) captaincy, and it’s great to see a bowler doing the job. They (bowlers) understand how the game flows and what needs to be done, and obviously, your mindset is to pick wickets… to be in a very positive mind frame. So, I think it will be brilliant (for Bumrah to be leading the Test side),”

Notably, the veteran has been in touch with Jasprit Bumrah for a long time as he is the head coach of Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise of the Indian Premier League. And, Bumrah is also one of the key players of the side.

While talking about Jasprit Bumrah’s passion for the longer format, the veteran, who has seen him from a close quarter and has been interacting with him regularly at the Mumbai Indians camp, has said that Bumrah is obsessed with red-ball cricket.

However, Jasprit Bumrah will become the fifth player to lead the team in the Test match in the last few months, including former skipper Virat Kohli. KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma are the others. Rishabh Pant will be his deputy for the game.

“It’s just the passion that he has to wear whites. We had this conversation many years ago when he started playing Test cricket for India, and the more time we spent in the Mumbai (Indians) camp, it seemed that Bumrah always wanted to talk about red-ball cricket. He just loves it,”

“It’s especially amazing that you come across fast bowlers who enjoy being out there playing Test cricket. It’s quite refreshing. He looks forward to each and every Test series. He doesn’t want to miss a single Test match for India, which is an asset to the country as he priorities his Test cricket very much,” concluded Mahela Jayawardene.

Jasprit Bumrah has featured in 29 Tests for Team India after making his debut against South Africa in 2018 and has scalped 123 wickets. He was India’s best bowler last year during the England tour when he also picked up 18 wickets in four matches. It will be interesting to see how he will lead the team this time.