Jasprit Bumrah throws light on MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli’s style of leadership

Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian fast bowler, was recently faced with the tricky question of picking the better captain between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Both Dhoni and Kohli have taken India to greater heights across formats. Under Kohli’s leadership, India are currently on top of the table in the ICC World Test Championship. On the other hand, Dhoni has helped India win every other ICC Trophy.

While Dhoni is at the fag end of his career, the Delhi-born Virat is going great guns in all the three formats. On being asked to pick between the stalwarts, Bumrah lauded both. The speedster said there isn’t a whole lot of different between Dhoni and Kohli’s style of leadership.

“Both of them are pretty similar in the way that they want you to take ownership. They give you the field you want, the help you need. You take responsibility of your own bowling,” Bumrah was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times.

First-class cricket shaped by career: Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah also prefers Test cricket over any other format. The pacer believes that doing well in the longest format can translate into success even in ODIs and T20Is. Bumrah also said that it’s first-class cricket that helped him grow as a cricketer, and not the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the T20 league, Bumrah plies his trade for four-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI).

“Tests (when asked about his preferred format). If you do well in Tests, you can do well in any format. Because people saw me in the IPL first, they think that’s what made me. But the major thing that helped me shape my career was first-class cricket. In fact, 2016 was the first year, after playing for the country, that I started playing IPL regularly,” he stated.

“Before that, I hardly played a few games. In first class cricket, you learn bowling in different conditions, bowling to different people, travelling and quickly identifying what the wicket is doing, what different opponents are trying to do. You learn your game,” Bumrah added.

Bumrah has recently made his comeback into the T20I squad for the series against Sri Lanka, starting January 5 in Guwahati. He lately recovered from a stress fracture on his lower back. Ever since the tour of the West Indies a few months ago, the pacer hasn’t played any cricket.