'Nothing Matters More To Him Than...': Ex-India Coach Makes Big Claim About Bumrah
Bumrah is back in India's T20I for the Asia Cup 2025. The 31-year-old pacer from Ahmedabad last played a T20I match for India during the T20 World Cup 2024 final.
Jasprit Bumrah is back in India's T20I team for the first time since the T20 World Cup 2024 final. In the T20 World Cup, Bumrah played a big role in the Rohit Sharma-led side's title win and bagged the Player of the Tournament award. The 31-year-old fast bowler will look to come up with big performances in the Asia Cup as well and help Suryakumar Yadav & Co. become champions for the record-extending ninth time.
Bumrah's return to the T20I team came as a surprise for many cricket fans around the world, as there were question marks over his fitness. Due to workload management, Bumrah, who won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2024, only played three Tests in England during the five-match series.
Bumrah's return to the T20I team will make India favourites for the title now. After India's squad was announced by chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Tuesday (August 19) at BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar made a big claim about Bumrah.
According to Nayar, who worked with Bumrah during his time as India's assistant coach from July 2024 to March 2025, Bumrah is a prized asset, and nothing matters more to him than performing well and winning championships for India.
'We all need to understand that Bumrah is a prized asset. He is the difference between winning and not winning a championship, and that must be respected," Nayar told JioHotstar.
'His workload and his body must be respected, because when you don't have him in crucial matches, the impact is massive. Whatever the plan is, no one knows it better than Bumrah himself. He'll be the best judge of what his body can handle and can communicate that with the selectors and team management."
'Knowing him and having spent time with him, I can tell you nothing matters more to him than performing well and winning championships for India," he added.
Bumrah, who has 89 wickets to his name in 70 T20Is played so far, will lead India's pace attack in the high-profile Group A match between India and Pakistan on September 14 in Dubai but could be rested for the other two group fixtures against UAE (on September 10 in Dubai) and Oman (on September 19 in Abu Dhabi).
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