Jasprit Bumrah has often expressed his desire to become the Indian captain, and he has also led the Asian Giants in the postponed Test against England in 2022. Bumrah has recently suggested that it's high time that the bowlers should be looked at as captaincy options and called them the 'smart ones'. The premier India pacer gave examples of legendary stars like Kapil Dev and Imran Khan, who won the World Cups as captains for India and Pakistan, respectively while talking to Indian Express.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has advised Bumrah not to chase captaincy. He also took a dig at Bumrah's statement on the captaincy and stated it's just like how Pakistan white-ball captain Babar Azam likes his captaincy despite having an underwhelming record.

"About Jasprit Bumrah's statement, it's just like how Babar Azam likes captaincy. In my opinion, he should not chase captaincy. He is a top-class bowler and should be focussing just on that. He gave the examples of Kapil Dev and Imran Khan's captaincy. However, they had become all-rounders, which is why they succeeded as captains. They were not appointed captains when they came into their teams as bowlers. This is the difference between a bowler and an all-rounder," Basit said on his YouTube Channel.

In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Bumrah led the Indian team in the postponed Edgbaston Test against England in 2022, but it didn't go as planned as the visitors suffered a defeat.

‘Jasprit Bumrah could be made India captain after Champions Trophy’

Despite his criticism of Bumrah's statement, Ali feels that there is a chance he might become India's captain after the Champions Trophy. But he asserted that only a few fast bowlers have become good coaches or captains in cricket.

"He also spoke about Pat Cummins. Yes, Cummins is a good captain, but there are very few fast bowlers who can become a good coach or captain. My best wishes to Jasprit Bumrah. There is a chance that he could be made the captain after the Champions Trophy."

Meanwhile, the BCCI's primary focus is to manage Bumrah's workload as he has been kept out of the leadership group in recent times as young Shubman Gill is elevated to vice-captaincy's role across formats.

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