India's bowling mainstay Jasprit Bumrah is likely to lead the Indian cricket team in the one-off Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham starting on Friday, India Today reported. Jasprit Bumrah's possible elevation as Team India captain comes at a time when regular skipper Rohit Sharma is down with COVID-19 and is unlikely to recover in time to feature in the match.

Jasprit Bumrah was India's vice-captain during the South Africa Test series earlier this year and has been communicated by the team management that he will be their stand-in skipper in the match against England.

Notably, Jasprit Bumrah will be the first pacer after the legendary Kapil Dev to captain India in Test cricket.

Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had received Harbhajan Singh and Mohit Sharma's backing. Both former India bowlers want to see Jasprit Bumrah lead the Indian team in the fifth and the final match of the series against England this weekend.

“I don't know how well you know Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) but I know him very well. We played a lot of cricket together. He is a very cool and calm character,” Mohit Sharma told news agency ANI.

“On the field, he bowls aggressively but off the field, he is very calm and if he becomes a captain then the taboo of fast bowlers can't become captain will not be there,” he added.

“Paaji (Kapil Dev) did for India if you look at other countries Pat Cummins has led Australia. So, if Bumrah becomes captain then it would be great for India,” Mohit Sharma concluded.

But ex-Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria also felt that if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) elevated Jasprit Bumrah to the captaincy, it could hamper his bowling.

“BCCI has indicated that Pant, Bumrah, or Ashwin could be given the captaincy if Rohit isn't available. Bumrah shouldn't be given the load of captaincy and he should rather concentrate on his bowling. I wouldn't want him to lead the side,” Danish Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.

Previously Virat Kohli's name was doing the rounds. Former England spinner Graeme Swann and Danish Kaneria both wished to see Virat Kohli lead the team as it was under his captaincy India had taken a 2-1 lead in the series last year.

“I'm surprised that Kohli's name isn't being suggested. Pant and Bumrah are in the race to lead the team in Edgbaston. Pujara has been playing in England for so long. He also can lead the team if Rohit isn't available. The best option for India is to give the captaincy to Kohli. He can return if India doesn't find any other option. But I am hopeful that Rohit will be leading the team in the fifth Test,” Danish Kaneria said.

“You could say why not let Virat Kohli finish off the things he started and sort of have a final hoorah. Whether Virat would want to do that, I don't know. I don't think England will really mind. Maybe, if you think about Ben Stokes… He would quite like Virat Kohli to be captain then he could directly compare to how Joe Root’s team played against Virat Kohli's,” Graeme Swann said in an interaction organized by Sony Sports Network.

“England won't be too worried about who is India's captain. They would be looking to put as much pressure as possible on the Indian batting unit and bowl them out. When we used to play against the Indian team, they had some great names, we always used to worry about how to get them out cheaply, it was never about who is captain,” Graeme Swann elaborated.

“What, I think you really got to hope for Virat Kohli comes out and bats like Joe Root is doing at the moment. Root is not the captain anymore and he is flourishing as a batsman again,” Graeme Swann further said.

“I wanna see that from Virat Kohli, maybe not in this Test match, but definitely moving forward after this tour. I love watching him play, a strong Virat Kohli is what world cricket needs,” Graeme Swann concluded.

On Tuesday, Rohit Sharma posted a picture of himself with a thumbs-up gesture on his Instagram, hinting at recovering in time to lead the team at Edgbaston.

The fifth and final Test was postponed and rescheduled for July 2022. Unlike the 2021 tour, Team India has played a warm-up game against the English county side Leicestershire and looks in good shape.

The BCCI has sent Mayank Aggarwal as a replacement opener and is likely to partner with Shubman Gill up the order.