Jasprit Bumrah’s workload has become a topic of conversation, with the fast bowler facing some flack from former players and fans for playing in only three of India’s five Test matches in England. Interestingly, though, the only two matches that India won in the series were the ones that the fast-bowling spearhead had sat out. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has now said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) must priotitise keeping Bumrah fit to play the team’s remaining Test matches this year so that they qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Gavaskar noted in his column for the Mid-Day that India play only four more Test matches this year, with the Asia Cup being the only tournament in which they will play some major white ball fixtures. Apart from these, India are also scheduled to embark on a limited overs tour of Australia and host white-ball matches against South Africa and New Zealand.
‘Indian cricket have got its own logic’
“What is more important? Qualifying for the World Test Championship or playing some bilateral white ball games which have no bearing at all. If India have to qualify for the WTC, then Jasprit Bumrah, being the premier fast bowler in the game, has to play in the four Tests that India have lined up between early October and late November,” wrote Gavaskar in his column.
“There’s a gap of a month between these Tests against West Indies and South Africa which means that he should be rested for the white ball series. That should be the logic but then Indian cricket have got its own logic as was seen in the recently concluded series.”
‘Bumrah had informed the selection committee he will only play 3 Tests…’
Gavaskar noted that India’s decision to leave Bumrah out for the last Test of the England tour is where the lines between what is good for the individual and what is for the team got blurred. “There’s already been a lot of debate about his appearances in the recently concluded series in England. To be fair, he had informed the selection committee that he could play only three Tests out of the five. The debate that has generated some heat is whether he should have played the last must-win Test match, especially since it was the grassiest pitch at the Oval in a long long time.
“The next Test match was in early October and so there were two clear months for him to rest and recover in time for that. The Indian team management stated that he wasn’t picked considering his future. This is where the lines between what is good for the individual and what is good for Indian cricket got a little blurred,” he said.
