Gautam Gambhir, the newly appointed India team head coach, has given an important update about pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management. Bumrah was not named in either of the Indian squads for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.
India will play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs in Sri Lanka with the T20Is beginning on July 27 and the ODIs starting from August 2nd onwards.
While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to the ODI fold for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was not named in either the T20I squad or the ODI squad. Bumrah was the Player of the Tournament in India’s recent T20 World Cup 2024 win.
Discussing the absence of Jasprit Bumrah in a press conference ahead of Team India’s departure for Sri Lanka, Gambhir emphasized on the importance of managing the pacer’s workload.
"I've said it before, workload management for someone like Jasprit (Bumrah) is important. He is one rare bowler that anyone would want. You want him to play important games. That's why the workload management for not just him but fast bowlers is important," Gambhir stated during the press conference.
With India playing 10 Tests in upcoming few months, Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness will be the key for Indian team.
Gambhir also addressed the broader issue of workload management for fast bowlers while expressing a different expectation for batters.
"If you are a batter who's batting well, you might as well just play all formats. Rohit and Virat have retired from T20Is now, so they will play two formats from now. Hopefully, they are available for most of the games," Gambhir added.
(IANS inputs)
