Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25: Jasprit Bumrah to captain India in first Test at Perth

Hyderabad: Jasprit Bumrah will captain team India in the first of the five Test matches for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting at the Optus Stadium in Perth on November 22. India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma has made himself unavailable due to family reasons. Rohit is expected to join the Indian team before the second Test match in Adelaide.

Rohit is expected to join the Indian team on November 29 and will be available to take part in India’s pink-ball warm-up game against Australia’s Prime Minister XI from November 30. The second Test match, a day-night match, will be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 6.

This will be the second time Bumrah will be leading the Indian team. He captained India in the fifth India vs England Test at Edgbaston in the 2021-22 season after Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill will also not play in the first Test as he is nursing a thumb fracture.

It now remains to be seen if the think-tank will go with KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran to open the innings alongside Yashasvi Jasiwal. Devdutt Padikkal is also another choice opener the team has got but it is unlikely that he would get a nod ahead of Rahul.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli also came under an injury scare after the former copped a blow on his elbow and the latter was taken for scans for an unknown injury. However, the duo soon repealed all troubles when they took part in the simulation session against India A at the Western Australian Cricket Ground in Perth.

Apart from filling Rohit and Gill’s spot, India would also need to look at their depth in batting, especially after how the batters fared with the seaming and new ball in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

India can utilise the services of Nitish Kumar Reddy or Harshit Rana in the lower-middle order.

The Indian team will continue to train at the WACA Stadium in Perth on Monday and will start training sessions at the Optus Stadium from Tuesday.