Jasprit Bumrah, India’s ace bowler, is scheduled to appear in only three of the five Tests on the current England trip. However, former South African captain AB de Villiers has questioned the Indian management’s decision, particularly following the team’s defeat in the first Test. De Villiers believes that resting Bumrah in a series like this is a questionable decision and possibly a case of mismanagement.
With England’s conditions favouring seam bowling, Jasprit Bumrah availability will be critical for India.
Despite playing virtually the whole IPL season with the Mumbai Indians, the speedster is only scheduled to play three Tests in this five-match series. India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, confirmed the rotation plan, stating that it was implemented to control Bumrah’s workload.
England won the series opener at Headingley by five wickets, highlighting India’s over-reliance on Bumrah. While he picked up a fifer in the first innings, the remainder of the bowling lineup failed to apply pressure. AB de Villiers compared Bumrah’s position to how South Africa handled Dale Steyn’s workload during his playing career.
“He is undoubtedly the world’s best bowler in all formats right now. So it’s difficult to know how to rest him, but I believe Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. And, in my opinion, this Test series would have been the best way to prepare him for all five Test matches.
That’s what we used to do with Dale Steyn. Rest him in lesser important T20 and ODI series and get him ready for the big Test series against Australia, England, and India away from home… New Zealand, to a certain extent, depending on the rankings at that time,” De Villiers said in a video on his YouTube channel.
It’s up to Team India to sort of manage him well: AB de Villiers
The former Proteas captain even mentioned the choice to be a potential mismanagement or unclear decision-making within the Indian setup. He also pointed out that the medical advice could have influenced the decision, stressing the importance of prioritising Tests over limited-overs formats
“So, I don’t know if it was mismanagement or perhaps because he recently got back from injury, sort of saw the IPL as the warmup phase. Maybe, went to the surgeon, who let him know, ‘You can’t play the five Test matches.’ So, I mean you got to respect that, and at the end of the day, it’s up to Team India to sort of manage him well,” he added.
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