 "AB de Villiers hints at possible 'mismanagement' as he questions India’s Jasprit Bumrah decision: 'It doesn't get bigger than that'")
Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has questioned India’s tactics of managing Jasprit Bumrah’s workload by playing him in just three out of five Test matches in England. Legendary batter De Villiers feels the absence of Bumrah from two Tests borders on “mismanagement”.
Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir had clarified before leaving for England that the star pacer Bumrah will only play in three out of five Tests despite England being one of the toughest away assignments.
With Mohammed Shamil missing due to injury, Bumrah is the only experienced pacer in the Indian side and also took a five-wicket haul in the Headingley Test, which India lost by five wickets. He is expected to sit out in the second Test at Edgbaston.
De Villiers feels India mismanaged Bumrah’s workload
AB de Villiers feels India should have done everything possible to get Bumrah ready for all five Test matches. “He is probably the top bowler in the world in all formats right now. So, it’s very difficult to decide a way to rest him,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“But in my opinion, Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game. And this Test series probably would’ve been the one, in my opinion, to get him ready for all five Test matches.”
De Villiers, who was responsible for handing legendary pacer Dale Steyn during his captaincy, said Bumrah could have been rested during a “lesser important” series to ensure he was available for all five Tests in England.
“That’s what we used to do with Dale (Steyn). Rest him in lesser important T20 and ODI series and get him ready for the big Test series against Australia, England, and India away from home… New Zealand to a certain extent, depending on the rankings at that time,” he added.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsDe Villiers also pointed out that it was probably a mismanagement by the Team India think tank not to plan things in a way that would have made Bumrah available for all Test matches.
“So, I don’t know if it was mismanagement or perhaps because he recently got back from injury, sort of saw the IPL as the warmup phase,” De Villiers said.
“Maybe, went to the surgeon, who let him know, ‘You can’t play the five Test matches.’ So, I mean you got to respect that, and at the end of the day, it’s up to Team India to sort of manage him well,” he added.
“It doesn’t get bigger than that, guys, except for maybe the WTC final.”
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