Jasprit Bumrah has been the anchor of India’s pace attack in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has so far taken 30 wickets at an average of 12.83. In contrast, the rest of the Indian bowlers have managed 36 wickets at an average of 41.33. Following India’s defeat in the Melbourne Test, where the 31-year-old fast bowler claimed a five-wicket haul, captain Rohit Sharma was questioned about the risk of over-bowling Bumrah. “Yeah, there is,” Rohit said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
“To be honest, he has bowled a lot of overs. There is no doubt about it. But again, every Test match we play, we keep that in mind. You know, the workloads of all the bowlers in fact. But again, if somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximise that form how much ever you can. And that is what we’ve been trying to do with Bumrah,” he added.
The skipper said he has been careful about Bumrah’s workload.
“But there comes a time where you need to step back a little bit and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. So, we’ve been very careful. I’ve been very careful. I talk to him about how he feels and stuff like that. So, yeah. Those things should be managed carefully. And I’m trying to do that on the field,” he noted.
Bumrah bowled 53.2 overs at the MCG, the most he has ever bowled in a Test match. This brings his total for the series to 141.2 overs, surpassing the workloads of Pat Cummins (136.4), Mitchell Starc (131.2), and Mohammed Siraj (129.1).
“Look, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj are the frontline seamers…Siraj, especially, is bowling his heart out. I don’t think there’s anything else that he can do. Obviously, there are technical aspects of his game that he’s looking into. But other than that, in terms of his effort, his attitude, bowling those long spells, he’s always up there. It’s just that the wicket column doesn’t show how well he’s bowled,” he said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
“So is Akash. In Brisbane and here, in both the games, he’s bowled really well. It’s just unfortunate that he couldn’t get the wickets under his name. It’s just everyone’s job to make sure that whoever plays needs to get the job done for the team. It’s not about one or two individuals,” he noted.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, India’s other seamer, acknowledged on Sunday that despite his impressive batting – he scored a maiden Test century that helped India recover from 191 for 6 in the first innings – he wished to contribute more with the ball. Reddy has bowled only 35 of India’s 542.2 overs in their last four Tests.
“When we saw him [Reddy] for the first time, we saw there’s a lot of potential, which is why he came here in the first place,” Rohit said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
“And he’s come and shown here what he’s capable of. You know, with the bat, he was brilliant. He understood the situation pretty well, read the situation pretty well. And he’s got solid technique as well. And superb mind, not to forget. Right now it’s very hard to say the growth part because it’s only been four test matches for him but I hope that he plays for long enough for India in all forms,” he said.
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