Jasprit Bumrah’s absence cannot be called a loss for Team India: Rohan Gavaskar

Speaking exclusively on SPORTS18’s daily sports news show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’, Gavaskar spoke about Bumrah’s importance for Team India and said, “You can’t replace Jasprit Bumrah and what he brings to the team. Any team that has Jasprit Bumrah has an advantage whether it’s any team in the world if you have Bumrah in your bowling attack it’s an advantage. For me, if I had to pick a bowling XI, he’s the first pick from the bowling side of things. So, India has definitely missed out on an advantage, that’s for sure, but is it a loss? I’m not so sure you can call it a loss, because how many T20 internationals has Jasprit actually played in the last year and a half? So, I think the Indian team have sort of gotten used to not having him in the side and have made plans accordingly.”

Gavaskar – who is a domestic cricket legend – also spoke about how the Indian team management should manage Bumrah’s workload. “That’s a question that the Indian team management selectors will sort of sit down and try to find an answer to in terms of – should his workload in white ball cricket be reduced? Should he focus on red ball cricket because we need a fantastic red ball cricketer as well? When you talk about workload management – you look at the number of matches he’s played for India in T20 internationals, he’s played only five. So, it’s a tough one, it’s not like he’s overburdened or his workload this year has been so much that it cost a breakdown. It’s clearly not, there is a big difference between the number of games he’s played, and the team has played. So, it’s not like he’s got a heavy workload at the moment, but they will have to find a way to manage his injury and make sure we get the best out of him because he’s a quality bowler.”

Gavaskar further gave his take on whether this will impact India’s chances in the World Cup. “I think this team management has made provisions and we saw that in West Indies. There was a lot of talk when Rohit Sharma gave Avesh Khan the 19th over, you know when Bhuvneshwar Kumar still had overs to spare and after the game, he said ‘look we all know what Bhuvneshwar Kumar can do, it’s time test out other younger players and to put them under pressure in case we need that going forward in the future.’ And that’s exactly the case, you may have lost out on Jasprit Bumrah and that is why all the planning that this Indian team management had done in the past hopefully will bear fruit in the World Cup.”