Ashwin supports Bumrah and Jadeja for the position of Test captain in India

R Ashwin believes that other seasoned candidates like Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are still valid choices for the position. Even though Shubman Gill is the clear favorite to replace Rohit Sharma as India’s next Test captain.

The lineup for India’s Five-Test series against England. Which begins on June 20, may be chosen in the last week of May. The selection process is dominated by discussions over a potential new captain.

“First of all, Gill is regarded as the captain by everyone. They’re all heading that way. But why do we overlook Ravindra Jadeja? Jasprit Bumrah is a noisy alternative,” Ashwin stated in a YouTube video interview with former Tamil Nadu opener Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan. I would suggest that if you are open to hiring a new captain. Why not assign Gill as an experienced man’s understudy for two years before giving him a full-time position?

With 3370 runs and 323 wickets from 80 Test matches, Jadeja is the most seasoned player in the Indian squad following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit from the game. However, Bumrah has only captained India in three Test matches, most recently in the opening and final Tests of the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has no prior experience as a Test cricket captain.

R. Ashwin

“Why don’t we gather all three or four candidates, have them give a presentation, and ask them to explain the team’s vision?” Ashwin said. “It takes place in nations like Australia. Why don’t we take that route?

Following the third BGT Test late last year, Ashwin announced his retirement from all cricket-related activities. He stated that Bumrah should also be given serious consideration and that his recent back issue shouldn’t be a barrier.

“Look at Pat Cummins, who is currently captaining Australia in Tests and ODIs after having a back stress fracture as well,” Ashwin said. In that sense, Bumrah is a national treasure and need to be discussed.

He needs to be questioned about his ability to play five Test matches. Can you serve as captain full-time? Although he had a stress fracture, I’m sure he’ll give it some thought. The cap bearing his name ought to be at the top of that ring, in my opinion.

IPL 2025: Match 20, MI vs RCB Match Prediction

Match Overview:

MI vs RCB: The Mumbai Indians will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru in match No. 20 of the ongoing IPL 2025. On Monday, April 7, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai,

Mumbai has only won one of their first four games and is currently at eighth in the points standings. Their most recent match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium ended in a heartbreaking 12-run loss. Hardik Pandya and his team would like to win on Monday in order to restart their campaign. Prior to the final game, Rohit Sharma had an injury and was forced to miss it. When he bats at the nets on Sunday, his level of fitness will be analyzed.

In the meantime, RCB defeated Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders back-to-back to start their campaign. However, their first home game against the Gujarat Titans ended their brief winning streak. Eight wickets separated them from victory. At the legendary Wankhede Stadium, the Rajat Patidar-led team will try to resume winning ways against a rusty Mumbai.

MI vs RCB Match Details:

Match: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date & Time: Monday, April 7, 2025, 7:30 PM (IST)

Live Streaming: JioHotstar

Wankhede Stadium Pitch Report:

It will be expected that Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will go for the batters. The first hitters will need to use be careful, yet, since the fresh ball will swing around. Given the venue’s short boundaries and quick outfield, it shouldn’t be too hard for the batters to change gears if they can settle into the crease. After 119 games, the IPL’s average first-inning score at Wankhede Stadium is 171. Teams who bat first have won 53 games, compared to 65 wins for chasing teams.

MI vs RCB Head-to-Head Record:

Matches Played: 33

Mumbai Indians Won: 19

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Won: 14

MI vs RCB Match Prediction:

In their past several meetings, RCB has defeated MI thanks to their potent batting lineup and powerful speed attack. MI hasn’t been playing at their best yet, but they are still in the top six. However, it might become a shootout between the batters if the Wankhede pitch is flat. Since both teams are trying to win, the toss will be important.

MI vs RCB Predicted Playing 11

Mumbai Indians (MI):

Hardik Pandya(c), Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton(w), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah or Vignesh Puthur.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB):

Rajat Patidar (C), Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and Yash Dayal.

The captaincy of Rohit Sharma is under fire after the “Jasprit Bumrah Decision.”

In the pink-ball Test match against Australia, Rohit Sharma is under flak for his captaincy. Following the team’s loss to Australia in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, India captain Rohit Sharma faces some difficult issues. After India easily trounced Australia in the first game at Perth, Rohit took Jasprit Bumrah spot as the team’s captain.

However, India lost by a humiliating 10 wickets in the day-night Test, and Rohit’s leadership was unimpressive. Aakash Chopra, a former batter for India, is still perplexed by Rohit’s use of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the match as analysts ask him pointed questions.

Chopra responds to some fan inquiries in a video posted on his YouTube page. Chopra was eager to point out how poor the Hitman’s decision-making was in Adelaide when a fan inquired about Rohit’s captaincy during the game.

“My friend, you are entirely correct. Did we give Head bouncers? Bouncers must be bowled on Head’s head. He doesn’t go until we do that, and he will continue to bother us. He has already done that and is doing it now. He did that in both the World Cup and WTC finals,” he remarked.

Jasprit Bumrah

“After bowling four overs, Jasprit Bumrah had already claimed a wicket. Why, then, did he bowl just four overs and then not bowl again? Throughout the entire session, he did not bowl. When you suggest that you missed a trick in captaincy, you are absolutely correct. Let’s be honest about Rohit’s captaincy. We witnessed defensive leadership. “He let the match drift,” he continued.

“I’ve also included a list of the Indian captains who have suffered the most straight defeats. In 1967, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi suffered six straight defeats. Following that, Sachin Tendulkar in 1999, MS Dhoni twice lost four straight games in the 21st century, Virat Kohli lost four straight games in 2020–21, and Rohit Sharma has already lost four straight games,” he said.

“In the Perth game, he wasn’t the captain. Therefore, he does not count that victory. If we exclude the previous century, it would be Dhoni, Kohli, and Rohit. Three straight home defeats are the most worrisome thing, which may not be the case with anyone else. He continued, “The captaincy has been a little lackluster.”

Mohammed Siraj helps India in asserting its dominance in spite of Head 50.

India continued to advance toward victory on Day 4 of the first Test in Perth as Mohammed Siraj claimed two crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja. Although Australia managed to collect 92 runs in the session thanks to a valiant 63* from Travis Head, the outcome seemed to be going only one way with 430 runs remaining and just five wickets remaining.

Smith got off his king pair a couple of balls later with a cover drive through the offside, but Jasprit Bumrah was right on the money right away when he smacked him on the pads with the first ball. On the opposite end, Khawaja top-edged a draw to the ‘keeper Rishabh Pant, and Siraj received a back of a length delivery to shoot up. For the first time since 1969, the home team lost four wickets while scoring fewer than 20 runs.

Mohammed Siraj

Both players, as well as first-change Harshit Rana, repeatedly thudded the pads and pounded their bat, demonstrating the relentlessness of the Indian bowlers. When the ball was determined to be just about clipping the stumps, Siraj had Head smacked on the pads and went into a celebratory appeal. But the umpire decided not to throw the batter out because Head barely survived the DRS appeal on the umpire’s call. Toward the conclusion of the first hour, Head scored a couple of boundaries to relieve some of his own burden.

The hosts scored 22 runs off the first four overs after the interval thanks to the left-hander Head’s continuous punishment of weak deliveries down the leg-side or if width was available. On the other end, Smith was gradually returning to his most fluid appearance. He also modified his approach from the first innings, waiting for the ball to come to him instead than making an extravagant shuffle across off-stump. But Siraj’s innings ended when he angled in and hit the batter’s outside edge to Pant, forcing him to straighten.

After Siraj’s brilliant volley over the ‘keeper for four, Head reached his fifty, and there was a cheer as he reached the 100-mark for Australia. Mitchell Marsh, on the other hand, gazed out to sea. He got beaten on the outside edge as well as the glove a couple occasions when the back of the length deliveries kicked off to him. Marsh needed 16 deliveries before he made a streaky three. At lunch, Australia is at 104 for 5.

Brief Scores:

India 150 and 487/6 – declared (Yashasvi Jaiswal 161, Virat Kohli 100*, KL Rahul 77; Nathan Lyon 2-96) lead Australia 104 and 104/5 (Travis Head 63*, Steve Smith 17; Mohammed Siraj 3-34, Jasprit Bumrah 2-26, ) by 430 runs

For 150, Australia quickly bundles out India. IND vs AUS 1st Test

IND vs AUS : On the opening day of the series opener in Perth, Australia’s fast bowlers kept up their twisted tactics, removing India for just 150 in the 50th over of the innings. Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins both claimed two wickets in the post-lunch session to end India’s batting efforts, while Josh Hazlewood added the wickets of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana to the two he had already taken in the morning phase.

Dhruv Jurel drove steadily on both the front and rear foot as India got the practice off to a strong start. But Marsh pulled him forward with a length ball that initially slipped off the outside edge and went to Marnus Labuschagne. Marsh subsequently claimed his second wicket of the session when Washington Sundar was undone by an additional amount of bounce, similar to that of Virat Kohli.

Day 1 in Perth was turning out to be one-way traffic, but Rishabh Pant resisted. During the morning session, Hazlewood’s excess bounce absorbed Kohli, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal were forced to nick away from the body. The third umpire ruled down a solid-looking KL Rahul for a caught-behind appeal towards the conclusion of the session. Rahul had performed well to play within the line of seaming deliveries. The replays indicated a spike in the snicko, but it occurred on a frame. Where the ball had barely passed the bat and his bat had struck his pad. So he left furious and shook his head.

IND vs AUS 1st Test

Pant, as usual, threw caution to the wind when he charged down on Cummins and got a strong outside edge that soared over the third man fence’s slip cordon. Even though it took him seven deliveries to score his first run, 21-year-old debutant Nitish Reddy was strong to begin. He looked confident against Lyon, playing a wristy drive through cover for his opening four, and he rode the bounce nicely against the quicks. Then he charged the spinner to pick the space between mid-off and cover. Nitish even gained access to open spaces on the field against Lyon by using the reverse sweep option.

The first part of the session was spent enjoying the rub of the green by Pant and Nitish. Pant ran backwards from mid-on and tried to collect a cross-batted hoick off Mitchell Starc. But Cummins was unable to hold onto it. In the meantime, Nitish managed to avoid Australia’s hesitancy over the review of a caught behind call. According to replays, the ball left Nitish’s gloves and went to Alex Carey.

But Cummins eventually made a breakthrough. After becoming accustomed to the Australian captain’s round-the-wicket approach, Pant even struck him for a standard flipped six over backward square leg, which caused him to topple over. At second slip, Cummins shifted to over the stumps and created an outside edge that went to Steve Smith. Harshit Rana got Hazelwood’s third wicket after McSweeney and Labuschagne’s outstanding work in the cordon. McSweeney dove and parried the ball in Labuschagne’s direction as it went low to his left at Gully. India was then eight down as Labuschagne seized it with one hand.

Nitish started to take more chances in pursuit of fast runs with Bumrah at his side. He hit Cummins for a six with an amazing upper cut. Bumrah himself pulled over the keeper’s head to score a six off Hazlewood. However, Hazlewood also managed to get him to edge one behind the stumps. To end the Indian innings, Cummins removed Nitish after he reached the 40s.

In summary:

India defeated Australia by 150 runs (Nitish Reddy 41, Rishabh Pant 38; Josh Hazlewood 4-29, Mitchell Marsh 2-12, Mitchell Marsh 2-14, Pat Cummins 2-67).

India starts strong after scoring 376. India vs Bangladesh

India vs Bangladesh: The hosts gave up just 37 runs in the overnight total as they were knocked out for 376 on Day 2. Giving Taskin Ahmed three swift wickets and Hasan Mahmud the first five-wicket haul of any Bangladeshi pacer in India. Even so, the lower order of India, spearheaded by R Ashwin’s 113 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 86, turned in a stunning effort. Adding 232 for the final four wickets after being reduced to 144/6. Bangladesh’s response was beset early on as India’s Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah struck first as they went into lunch on 26/3.

When Ravindra Jadeja poked at a delivery outside off. While this was going on, R Ashwin took one off Hasan Mahmud for a four, and Akash Deep quickly followed suit, hitting two fours off the same bowler in an over to help India surpass 350. Another fortunate moment came when Akash misplayed a pass to Taskin, only for Shakib Al Hasan to make the catch. After that, he hit a textbook off drive and gave Mahmud, who had a costly start on the second day, another boundary.

Before falling to Taskin in search of a big shot, Akash made 17 runs in a 24-run partnership with Ashwin. Jasprit Bumrah opened the scoring with a four off the first ball he encountered that went past the slip cordon. Taskin then brought an end to an excellent innings by Ashwin. Who attempted to go over the top but instead gave Najmul Hossain Shanto a catch at deep mid off. Replays showed that Bumrah had an inside edge, which allowed him to escape a Bangladesh review for leg before wicket. Mahmud eventually took his fifth wicket when Bumrah steered a ball to Zakir Hasan at third slip.

India vs Bangladesh

In the opening over, Shadman Islam had an edge over Bumrah. However, the ball missed backward point, and he was also outscored. The bowler adjusted his angle and bowled Shadman for two. Approaching from around the wicket to see him shoulder arms a ball. Zakir was given a fortunate break. When Mohammed Siraj struck him in the pad. However, India declined to review the play, and replays later showed three reds.

Bumrah and Siraj each bowled three overs before Akash and Ashwin joined the attack. Najmul elected to play a sweep for a four in an attempt to counter Ashwin positively. However, Bangladesh faced immediate consequences. When Mominul Haque and Zakir were bowled off consecutive deliveries by Akash. Bangladesh still had a lot of work to do, but Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul went into the lunch break undefeated after seeing through Akash’s testing.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 26/3

Najmul Hossain Shanto 15*;

Akash Deep 2-5,

Jasprit Bumrah 1-10 are trailed by 350 runs behind India 376

R Ashwin 113,

Ravindra Jadeja 86,

Yashasvi Jaiswal 56;

Hasan Mahmud 5-83,

Taskin Ahmed 3-55.