Jasprit Bumrah brought attention back to the controversial captaincy switch at Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2024 season as he led the franchise for the first time during their 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamshala. The star pacer is leading the five-time champions in the absence of regular skipper Hardik Pandya and vice-captain Surykumar Yadav.
On being asked about his thoughts on captaining MI for the first time, the star pacer pointed out that he has already led India in Test cricket and did not expect that he would get to captain his franchise after leading the national team in the longest format of the game.
"Yeah, it feels good. I came here as a 19-year-old. I didn't think that I'll be a Test captain before I'll captain Mumbai Indians. But this is a fun place to be. You look after everyone and you want to contribute in whatever way possible. So, I like responsibility. This is a new challenge," said Bumrah at the toss.
The comments became the talk of the town on social media as cricket lovers felt that the pacer was able to express his dissatisfaction at not getting the job on a full-time basis after Rohit Sharma.
For those unversed, Hardik Pandya replaced five-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma ahead of the 2024 season. The move had caused a stir as the all-rounder was given charge of the franchise immediately after joining the team on a trade deal from Gujarat Titans.
While Hardik started his IPL career at MI and played for them between 2015 and 2021, he left the team ahead of the 2022 mega auction and signed for Gujarat Titans (GT).
While the move to remove Rohit was widely criticised, Suryakumar and Bumrah's cryptic Instagram stories made their disappointment clear.
Bumrah has been part of MI since 2013 and has not played for any other franchise in his career. He is the second-longest-serving player at the franchise after Rohit.
In fact, he is captaining the team in his 156th IPL match, which is the second-highest number of games a player has played before leading a team. Only Ravindra Jadeja (200) played more matches before captaining a team in the world's richest cricket league.
He captained India for the first time in a Test match in July 2022. Overall, he has captained the national team in three Tests and two T20Is.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
