Dubai: Australian batting great Ricky Ponting has backed Jasprit Bumrah to shoulder the dual responsibility of spearheading the Indian pace attack as well as leading the team if Rohit Sharma misses the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth.
Ponting though added that captaincy will be the “hardest thing” for the premier fast bowler.
Doubts remain over Rohit’s availability in the first Test, which will be held from November 22 at the Optus Stadium, with the skipper himself recently admitting that he was “not sure” of his participation.
“Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him. I think that was always the question on Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well,” Ponting said of Bumrah during the ICC Review podcast.
“How much is he going to bowl himself? Is he going to bowl himself too much? Is he not going to bowl himself enough?
“But, someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to be bowling when he needs to have a spell.”
If Rohit skips the game, the onus will be on vice-captain Bumrah to lead the side. Ponting said that the 30-year-old has enough experience to handle the leadership duties while spearheading the Indian pace attack.
“In that Indian team, there’s a lot of experience around him. And, it’s really important, I think, that you use the experience around you even when you are the captain, and just ask the appropriate questions at the right time because no matter how much cricket we’ve played, we’re not always going to be right,” Ponting said.
Bumrah remains India’s best fast bowler in the longest format currently, ranked third in the ICC Test chart.
Ponting believed that Bumrah has what it takes to “thrive” in tough situations.
“Guys like that tend to thrive on the extra pressure and the responsibility. He’s always been the leader of the attack for a long time anyway. Whether that’s red ball, T20 or ODIs, he’s the main man,” he said.
