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'Didn't think I will be a Test captain before becoming MI captain': Jasprit Bumrah reveals surprise

Jasprit Bumrah is leading Mumbai Indians for the first time in his IPL career and it comes against Punjab Kings. At the toss, he opened up on becoming India’s Test captain before leading MI.

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Jasprit Bumrah is leading the MI team for the first time in his career. Image: JioHotstar
Jasprit Bumrah is leading the MI team for the first time in his career. Image: JioHotstar
FirstCricket Staff|May 14, 2026, 19:29:26 IST

Jasprit Bumrah had a special moment on Thursday as he led Mumbai Indians for the first time in the IPL during their match against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala. Hardik Pandya missed out due to an injury, while Suryakumar Yadav didn't travel with the team because of personal reasons.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, Bumrah spoke about how emotional the moment was for him. The star pacer said he never expected to become India’s Test captain before getting the chance to captain Mumbai Indians.

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“I came here as a 19-year-old. I didn't think that I will be a Test captain before becoming MI captain. It feels good. I like responsibility, this is a new challenge and I will look to have fun,” Bumrah said at the toss.

Bumrah explained that Mumbai Indians decided to bowl first because of the weather conditions in Dharamsala. According to him, the pitch could settle down later in the evening because of the cold weather. Mumbai Indians are already out of the playoff race, but Bumrah said the team still wants to finish the season strongly.

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"We have decided to bowl first. We saw the last game and felt maybe with the cold weather coming down the wicket will settle down. As much as we can, we can three games left and we want to enjoy and maybe ruffle a few teams. Surya is not here for personal reasons and Allah is not there as well," he said.

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PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer said he would also have preferred to bowl first after losing the toss. Punjab Kings made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Xavier Bartlett and Azmatullah Omarzai for the important clash. Harpreet Brar has been named as an Impact Sub and will come in the second innings.

PBKS vs MI: Squads

Mumbai Indians bowling-first XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Raghu Sharma

MI bench: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Krish Bhagat, Trent Boult

Punjab Kings batting-first XI: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

PBKS bench: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Mitchell Owen, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey

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First Published:May 14, 2026, 19:29:26 IST
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