Courtesy: BCCI
After losing the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test series by 10 wickets, Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, spoke in a press conference about his strike weapon Jasprit Bumrah’s workload for the remaining three matches. After Australia levelled the series at 1-1, the 37-year-old remarked that he works closely with Jasprit Bumrah on the field about managing his bowling spells, which would allow the Indian team management to play him in all the five Test matches of the series.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah has by far been the best bowler for India after the first two Test matches of the BGT Test series, taking 12 Australian wickets at an average of 11.25. But with the lack of support from other bowlers in crunch moments during the Adelaide Test, India conceded an above par total to Australia in the first innings, which was enough for the hosts to clinch the match by 10 wickets, and level the series at 1-1 with final three Tests to be played in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
We want Jasprit Bumrah to play all the matches and remain fresh: Rohit Sharma
While speaking about Jasprit Bumrah and his workload management during the ongoing BGT Test series, Rohit Sharma was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “See, as and when he (Jasprit Bumrah) has a spell, I talk to him. I ask him how his body is feeling. Is he fresh or not? Because it's a five-match series. And in a five-match series, we want Bumrah to play all the matches and remain fresh. So, it becomes important to analyse all this when you are playing a Test match in which the bowler is bowling... how much workload is there? How much is not there? It becomes important to manage all this.”
Rohit Sharma also alluded to how it isn’t only about the workload of Jasprit Bumrah, but also about the rest of the bowlers in the team. He remarked, “So, as I said, we have doctors, physios, and trainers. We regularly see which bowler has how much gas, how much fuel, how long he can go, how much he can't go. So, we talk about all this. And see, we are not just playing with one bowler. There are other bowlers also who will have to take responsibility and work for the team. And whether it's [Mohammed] Siraj, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Akash Deep or Prasidh [Krishna]...”
With the second Test at the Adelaide Oval finishing early on day three, the Indian bowlers will have an extra couple of days off before they play the third match of the BGT series at the Gabba in Brisbane against Australia from December 14 onwards.
