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After India drew the five-match Test series by 2-2 margin against England for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, they are currently having some off time with the Men’s Asia Cup being the next major cricketing assignment for them. The continental tournament, which will be played in T20 format, is scheduled to be held from September 9 to 28 in the UAE.
While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee is scheduled to meet on the coming Tuesday (August 19) to confirm the squad for the marquee tournament, there are reports that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah might be included after he was in the radar due to workload management, which saw him play only three Test matches in the recently-concluded series.
This series has been a great lesson to them and to us too..: Sanjay Manjrekar on star players missing out
With the debate sparking around Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management as he was made to sit out in the fifth and final Test, several former cricketers including Mohammed Azharuddin and others being critical of the opinion, the latest to speak on the same was Sanjay Manjrekar. Writing in his column in Hindustan Times, Manjrekar began, "The game will always show us the mirror, however much we try and gloss over things. It was poetic justice that the two Tests India won were two matches Bumrah did not play.” The former India cricketer further went on to assert that this should have emboldened the Indian selectors to make some tough choices, stating, “This series has been a great lesson to them and to us too, the two Tests victories India achieved did not feature Virat (Kohli), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Rohit (Sharma), (Mohammed) Shami and Bumrah too!”
The 60-year-old further continued, “It reminded us of the eternal truth of sport and life, no one, however great, is indispensable. And this is how India must handle Bumrah.” While the former India international did not rest here as he further gave a bold statement which stated that if Bumrah can’t play more than two matches in a row, he can’t be the frontline pick.
"If he cannot play more than two matches in a row or sometimes even more than one, he must not be your frontline pick. Players who are match fit, eager, keen to play and perform should be picked any day for me over a highly skilled player. It will motivate such enthusiastic players even more," he added.
"This is not an idealistic position to take, but it’s the right one for the long-term health of a team sport," said Manjrekar, while he went on to hail the efforts of Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj.
