On the eve of the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India’s stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah said he “has always advocated for pacers being captains” and that “they are tactically better”.

India and Australia are set to kick off the series with the Perth Test on Friday. For the first time in the history of the rivalry, two fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins are set to captain the sides.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, both welcomed the decision to hand the captaincy to the pacers and hoped that the tradition would carry on.

“I have always advocated for pacers being captains. They are tactically better. Pat (Cummins) has done a phenomenal job. There are a lot of models in the past as well. Kapil Dev and a lot of other captains in the past. Hopefully, a start of a new tradition,” Bumrah said.

Cummins said it’s always good to see a pacer being the captain. The pacer, who became Australia’s first-ever fast bowling captain has seen incredible highs with the team winning the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship.

“Yeah, great to see. Should happen more. The New Zealand series last year was good with Tim Southee as captain as well. Yeah, I don’t think it really changes too much. It’s one of those rare things. Looking forward to seeing how he goes about his work out there, but as a fan of fast bowling, it’s always good to see,” Cummins said.

India arrived in Australia after a shocking 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand, but Bumrah believes that series loss will matter little when the action begins Down Under.

“When you win you start from zero but when you lose, then also you also start from zero. We are not carrying any baggage from India. Yes, we have our learnings from New Zealand series but those were different conditions and our results here have been different,” Bumrah said.

India will take on Australia in the first Test in Perth starting on Friday.