Jasprit Bumrah To Skip Asia Cup? 'If India Plays Final, No Way He Can Play Vs West Indies'
There's just a two-day gap between the end of Asia Cup 2025 and start of India-West Indies 1st Test in Ahmedabad.
Is Jasprit Bumrah set to miss another major Interational tournament? Given the schedule and his workload management, India could very well be without their pace spearhead for the next month's Asia Cup tournament that starts from September 9 in the UAE.
Bumrah was on Friday released from India's Test squad for the ongoing five-match series against England being played for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The 31-year-old played three Tests and despite India needing a win in the final Test, currently underway at The Oval, he wasn't picked in the playing XI for a fourth game with the team management sticking to their original workload plan that required him to play in three of the five matches.
Bumrah To Prioritise Tests?
The Asia Cup will be played from September 9 to 28 in T20 format. The tournament was to be held in India but given the diplomatic tensions with Pakistan, UAE has been picked as a neutral venue.
India are slated to host West Indies for a two-Test series that starts from October 2. Now, should India qualify for the Asia Cup final, it will leave Bumrah with just two days to rest and gear up for the West Indies series – a highly unlikely scenario given his fitness history.
'It will be a tricky call, but Bumrah loves Test cricket and there are World Test Championship points at stake. As far as T20 is concerned, he can play the series against New Zealand in January, which will be a dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup," a BCCI source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
'If Bumrah plays Asia Cup and suppose India plays the final, no way can he play against West Indies at Ahmedabad. Obviously, the question arises, do you need Bumrah against West Indies or he plays Asia Cup after a month's break and plays the two Tests against South Africa. That call, Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir will have to take," the source added.
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