Due to Bumrah’s injury history, the BCCI will not be keen to entrust him with any leadership responsibility during the Indian tour of England, where they are scheduled to play five Tests. The other nightmare for the board was Bumrah injuring his back on the last Test of the Australia tour 2024-25 and being out of cricket for almost three months, which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy triumph. With the ICC World Test Championship kicking off from England, the board now has an eye on grooming someone who can lead this team all through the five matches.
Bumrah returned at the IPL 2025 level after missing the first few because of recovery. He also captained India in two of the three Tests in Australia when Rohit Sharma was injured, the only win there being under his captaincy.
So to keep Bumrah’s workload down he probably won’t be playing all Tests of the England series beginning June 20. A BCCI source told The Indian Express, “We want a player who will be available for all five matches and should be given the vice-captain role.
Since Bumrah won’t play all five games, it is better for the captain and vice-captain to be consistent all through. The team seems to be preferring a younger player for the vice-captaincy in the hope that he will be groomed as a future captain. Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant remain favourites for the role.”