Indian national cricket team batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has shared his opinion on reports that Jasprit Bumrah was rested in the third test match of the five-match series against the England national cricket team.
The 5-match series between the Indian national cricket team and the England national cricket team is currently tied 1-1 as the Ben Stokes-led team won the first Test and the hosts clinched a dominant victory in the series.
The third Test will be held at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot from February 15 to 19. India will field a batting lineup inexperienced in the game as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will miss the game due to different reasons.
Kohli has withdrawn from the entire five-match series while Shreyas Iyer has been dropped after a series of low scores in the purest format of the game. Meanwhile, KL Rahul is currently recovering from the injury he sustained in the first Test. Although India will be light on batting, he has a solid bowling line-up to support his cause.
India’s best player in the bowling department in the ongoing series has been leading pacer Jasprit Bumrah and he is also the leading wicket-taker of the series. Bumrah managed to get 15 wickets in 4 innings at an average of 10.66 and best bowling figures of 6/45, which came in the Vizag Test match. He spit fire in the second Test and his 9 wickets helped him win the Player of the Match award.
There have been reports doing the rounds in the Indian media that Bumrah will possibly be given rest to handle his workload. However, Indian batsman great Sunil Gavaskar is completely against the idea of a break.
No one in their right mind would suggest that Jasprit Bumrah has been defeated – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar has stated that Bumrah has bowled only 58 overs in the series and giving him a break in the name of workload management does not make sense.
“So, using that stupid word workload is meaningless, especially when you see that in the two Test matches that have been played so far, Bumrah has bowled one delivery in less than 58 overs. That translates to an average of around 15 overs per innings so far. Now, no one in their right mind would suggest that they are over it,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“There were reports in some media that Jasprit Bumrah would be rested due to so-called workload management. Fortunately that has not happened and Bumrah remains the vice-captain of the team. The series remains tied and there is the psychological advantage that Bumrah has over the English batsmen with his destructive bowling,” Gavaskar added.
Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted that India had a 9-day break after the second Test and the first two matches were over in four days, giving additional rest to the players. He added that people like Jasprit Bumrah should be prepared to work harder for the country and representing India should not be taken for granted.
“Bumrah plays for his country’s cricket team and he and others should be prepared to do the extra work that may be asked of them. “The privilege of playing for the country, especially the highest form of the game, Test cricket, should never be taken for granted by anyone, no matter how great.” he added.
