With the second Test at the Adelaide Oval finishing in seven sessions, where India faced a humiliating ten-wicket defeat to get leveled at 1-1 in the series, finding themselves in a tough scenario of qualifying for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, the team management decided to hold an extra training session before their departure to Brisbane.
But the major concern for India was the absence of their premier pacer of India, Jasprit Bumrah, along with Mohammad Siraj. However, the other pacer of the second contest, Harshit Rana, who faced a lot of criticism being punished for wicketless 86 runs in 16 overs, was present to bowl at Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli at nets.
The report of the Sydney Morning Herald confirmed that both the experienced pacers skipped the practice ahead of their must-win contest at the Gabba. That could be a sign of the management keeping a close eye on the pacer’s workload management.
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The picture of Bumrah spending time with the strength and conditioning coach of India, on the sideline of the training sessions sparked concern. The heartbeat of the fans would have been faster when the Ahmedabad-born was seen clutching his inner thigh in pain as they called for medical management immediately.
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However, the Mumbai Indians bowler, having taken a few supplements and pickle juice, restarted his bowling. The bowling coach, Morne Morkel, claimed that the incident was merely an issue of the cramps. However, the concern grew again when his pace significantly dropped in the lone over of the second innings for the third Test.
Bumrah, who led India at the Optus Stadium in Perth, picked up eight wickets in that affair to grab the ‘player of the match.’ In the pink-ball Test, the right-arm pacer collected four wickets, along with Siraj. The last one for the 30-year-old was Usman Khawaja, who put an outside edge into the hands of the slip fielder, Nathan McSweeney also edged it behind, while Steve Smith got a feather down the leg side.
The former Australian player, Damien Fleming, during his interaction on SEN Radio, feared ‘serious doubts’ when told about the absence of Bumrah in the training session on December 10. He blamed the Indian leader, Rohit Sharma, for giving the premier pacer one over when Australia was asked to chase 19 runs.
“There’s got to be some serious doubts. Siraj might be workload (related), but I’m bemused (that) Bumrah bowled that over. They could have hidden this. They showed their hand.” Fleming shed light.
“There’s no way that’s cramp. He was very ginger after the break in the first innings. He bowled again, not quite as slow (in the) second innings. I don’t even know why he bowled that over (in the second innings). That gave some secrets away to everyone.” The veteran fast bowler addressed.
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India is already without another experienced pacer, Mohammad Shami, who is going through the fitness test in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25. If Bumrah misses out on selection for the Brisbane Test, Akash Deep is likely to come as the replacement.
However, if the management thinks of dropping Rana for the encounter, Prasidh Krishna could be in line for another Test nearly after a year. The height and bounce of the Karnataka pacer are expected to put pressure on the Australian batters at the Gabba. But it’s a vital game for India regarding the series and the qualification for the WTC final.