Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has named Jasprit Bumrah over Shubman Gill to become the new captain of the red-ball side following Rohit Sharma’s retirement as well. The veteran also said that Bumrah’s leadership will only help him maintain his workload, which could prevent unnecessary injuries.

Gavaskar told Sports Today (via NDTV): “Who better to know what is the workload for himself than himself? If you appoint somebody else, they would always want an extra over from Bumrah. If he is your No. 1 bowler, he will himself know that ‘yes, this is the time I must take a break’. To me, it has to be Jasprit Bumrah only. I know all these kind of speculation going around his workload and all that. Give it to him so that he knows how many overs to bowl, when to take him off, when to sort of rest. That would be the best thing.”

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“He (Bumrah) may not have to miss a Test match. If you give it to him, he might know when to stop before his body starts to crumble. For me, give it to him. After the first Test, there is an eight-day gap. There’s enough time to recover. Then, there are two back-to-back Test matches. That’s fine. There’s then another gap. If you give him the captaincy, he will be the best person to know when to bowl,” he further added.

The remarks come months after Jasprit Bumrah sustained an injury during the fifth Test match against Australia during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well and he missed the rest.