'What happened to Bumrah'? Kapil Dev says India would have 'wasted time' on pacer if he does not play World Cup

Over the last year or so, the Indian cricket team have felt the absence of Jasprit Bumrah in the squad. Bumrah, who is close to returning to competitive cricket, has been struggling with a recurring back injury for a prolonged period. Bumrah had undergone surgery for the back injury in March this year, and has been recently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

While Bumrah might have a chance to feature in India’s squad for the T20I series against Ireland in August, the legendary Kapil Dev believes that a talent like Bumrah’s would be wasted if he was not fit enough to play the World Cup knockout matches, should India qualify.

Bumrah last played a match for India when they faced Australia in a T20I in Hyderabad in September last year.

“What happened to Bumrah? He started working with so much belief, but if he’s not there (in World Cup semi-final/final)… we wasted time on him. Rishabh Pant… such a great cricketer. Had he been there, our Test cricket would’ve been better,” Kapil was quoted as saying by The Week.

Kapil, however, did not mince words when it came to the players preferring the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the national team.

“God is kind, it’s not as if I never got injured. But today, they are playing 10 months in a year. Give a benefit of doubt to that, but everybody has to look after themselves. IPL is a great thing but IPL can spoil you also. Because, a little bit of injuries and you will play in IPL. A little bit of injuries, you won’t play for India. You would take a break. I’m being very open about it,” added the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper.

Kapil was not happy with BCCI’s management of the players’ workload.

“If you have a small injury, you would play in IPL if it’s an important game. At this stage, cricket board has to understand how much cricket they should play. That is the bottomline. If today, you have resources, money, but you don’t have three or five-year calendars. There’s something wrong with cricket board there,” added the 64-year-old.

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India have not won a major ICC trophy since 2013, when they won the Champions Trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

India played Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June, but ended up suffering a heavy 209-run defeat at The Oval. The 2023 ODI World Cup gets underway in India on 5 October.