Bad news for Jasprit Bumrah, head coach Gautam Gambhir forces BCCI to take BIG decision due to…
Team India managed to heroically level the five-match Test series against England at the Oval in London on Monday. Shubman Gill's side posted their narrowest win in Test cricket in their history by six runs as the 'Tendulkar Anderson Trophy' was shared after a 2-2 draw.
However, one of the major concerns for the Indian side was the 'unavailability' of their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah for all five of the Test matches. Bumrah missed the 2nd and 5th Test of the series after deciding to play in only three out of the five games in the series.
The Mumbai Indians pacer ended up as Team India's second-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in 3 Tests behind Mohammed Siraj, who claimed 23 wickets after playing in all five Tests. But according to reports, head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen on putting an end to this practice of 'picking and choosing' matches. What is the BCCI decision after discussion with Gautam Gambhir?
According to a report in PTI news agency, BCCI have decided that all centrally-contracted Indian players will not to allowed to 'pick and chose' their matches going forward.
'There have been discussions and the message will be sent across to the centrally contracted players, especially those who are all format regulars that this culture of picking and choosing games won't be entertained in near future,' a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
'It doesn't mean that workload management will be thrown out of the window but a more objective approach is expected in near future. Obviously, fast bowlers' workload needs to be managed but it can't be accepted that in the name of workload management, people will miss crucial matches,' the official added.
Siraj, who sent down 185.3 overs across five Tests or over 1000 deliveries throughout the Test series. In spite of that, Siraj's final ball of the game – which clean-bowled Gus Atkinson to win the Oval Test – was clocked at 143kph, his fifth fastest ball of the entire series.
In contrary to this, Bumrah's pace kept on decreasing in all the three Tests he played. In fact, in the fourth Test at Manchester, Bumrah only bowled 3 per cent of his deliveries which were above 140kph.
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar also slammed the over-usage of 'workload management' excuse. 'When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about cold? What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players. Playing cricket for India is an honour,' Gavaskar told 'India Today'.
'You are representing 140 crore people and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj. I think Siraj bowled his heart out, and he debunked forever this business of workload. For five Test matches, non-stop he has bowled 7-8 over spells, because the captain wanted him and the country expected of him,' he added. Will Jasprit Bumrah be available for Asia Cup 2025?
The Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled to start on September 9 in UAE and Bumrah would have got a break of more than month before the T20 games for Team India begin. But the BCCI official said that if Bumrah did play in the Asia Cup and Team India ended up reaching the final on September 28, it is unlikely that the speedster will be available to play in the first Test vs West Indies from October 2.
'Look if Bumrah plays in the Asia Cup and if India go the distance till September 28, he won't obviously play the West Indies Test series starting October 2. However, if there are no injuries, he will certainly play the two Tests against World champions South Africa in November,' the BCCI official told PTI.
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