India won the last test match against Australia at Delhi by six wickets. In the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, Men in Blue is leading by 2-0 in the four-test match series. Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah has been out of the squad since September 2022 due to an injury. Aakash Chopra has said that if Bumrah was fit and in the squad, he would still have not played him against Australia in the test series.
Chopra believes that pacer would be more useful for India in the upcoming WTC finals in England-
“Even if he was available for the Test matches here and had played as well, what would he have done? I wouldn’t have played him here in any case,” said former Indian cricketer-
“Jasprit Bumrah has still not got the clearance from the NCA. He will not be playing the two Test matches, he will not play the ODIs as well,” he further added.
the right-arm pacer is currently recovering at National Cricket Academy ( NCA) in Bengaluru, he is doing rehabilitation to fully recover for the upcoming cricket season.
R. Ashwin – 149 wickets in 62 innings.
J. Bumrah – 114 wickets in 52 innings.
M. Shami – 113 wickets in 59 innings.
R. Jadeja – 87 wickets in 50 innings.The fab-four of India's bowling unit in recent times ?#RAshwin #RavindraJadeja #MohammedShami #JaspritBumrah #India pic.twitter.com/8vrfulWYCP
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) February 17, 2023
“I would ask him to rest as he is a national asset and we want him to be very, very careful. He has not played for a long time. If you become fit, I want you in the WTC final at the Oval,” said Chopra.
During BCCI annual meeting last year, it was decided mutually by all board members, that NCA coaches will be in touch with IPL franchise team management in monitoring the Indian player workload. Indian board will keep a tab on fast bowlers to not get an excessive amount of wear and tear while playing in the IPL.
“A lot of people are saying that he will play franchise cricket, but it has been decided that the workload will be managed this time by the BCCI.”They will be in direct contact with the player and the physio. They will monitor your fitness and how much you can push and where you need to stop,” concluded analyst Chopra.
Team India will now be looking to win the third test match of four test match series to secure their place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Rohit Sharma-led side will take on Pat Cummins-led Australia for the next test match at Indore on March 1st.