India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel lauded Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the opening Test against Australia, starting Friday, November 22 at the Perth Stadium. Bumrah will be leading the Indian side in Rohit Sharma’s absence as he has been granted a paternity leave. 


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Previously, back in 2022, Bumrah led the Indian team in the fifth Test against England but then India sustained a loss by seven wickets. 



“Jassi is a guy who immediately put his hands up and wanted the leadership role. He has been very successful in the past, he knows what to expect, and he speaks well in the dressing room. He is a guy who will lead from the front with the ball in hand and younger guys will follow him,” Morkel said in the pre-match press conference.


“For him, it’s an exciting challenge ahead. But again, we have got Virat (Kohli), KL (Rahul) and a lot of experienced guys who will help him and I’m sure when he is bowling, it will bring a bit of calmness into the team. In terms of leadership and how he looks at the game, he’s a natural leader for me,” Morkel added.


Talking about Bumrah’s record, the star pacer has scalped 32 wickets from seven Tests with a six-wicket haul under his belt. The Indian team will look to come back to the winning ways against Australia as they lost the home Test series against New Zealand recently.


India’s Squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.


Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.