All talk on resting Bumrah for third Test could well be mind games
Just as India were celebrating their fine 106-run win over England in the second Test in Vizag, rumours began to circulate that Jasprit Bumrah might be rested for the third one in Rajkot, starting February 15. The source has to be someone close to the team management or selection committee and the ‘excuse’ is workload management. On the face of it, the very thought of resting Bumrah, Bazball’s antidote, appears preposterous,whentheseriesis1-1andthere’severythingtoplayforin the next three Tests.
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During England’s first innings in Vizag, Bumrah was seen briefly holding hisrightforearmandhavingaconversationwiththeteamphysio.Hestill went on to bowl 15.5 overs in that innings, claiming 6-45. In the second dig, he bowled another 17.2 overs, returning with 3-46. Even on a slow- turner, Bumrah did the bulk of India’s bowling. Surely, he couldn’t have done that if he had picked up an injury or a niggle.
After a failed attempt in Hyderabad, India eventually decoded Bazball in Vizag,viaindividualbrilliance,andthefastbowlerwasattheforefrontof it. No disrespect to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s magnificent double hundred and ShubmanGill’s century,but Bumrah was the difference between the two sides, deservingly getting the Player-of-the-Match award.
So far, Bumrah has bowled 57.5 overs in the ongoing series, in conditions that hardly assisted the seamers. At allyof15wicketsat
10.66 is a testament to his genius that has taken the pitches and the conditionsoutoftheequation.Inaway,the30-year-old,whoreached the 150-wicket landmark in Tests in Vizag, offers a throwback to the famous West Indies pace quartet under Clive Lloyd, bowlers who used to make almost every external factor redundant. That was ‘Fire in Babylon’. Bumrah has fire in his belly and a stupendous skill-set, good enough to make the ball ‘talk’ at his command.
After India’s victory in the second Test, head coach Rahul Dravid admittedthat individual brilliancewas the reasonforsuccess. “Wewere put under pressure at various times, but I think a couple of individual brillianceskeptusinthegameinthefirstcoupleofdays,”Dravidsaidat the post-match press conference. He added: “Yashasvi’s brilliant innings, 209 in that first innings. And then, Bumrah’s spell really on the first two days kept us, or got us ahead by 140. And then, we needed a bit more of a team performance over days three and four to get us over the line.”
In other news regarding the test match-
There’s a nine-day gap before the two teams meet again in Rajkot for the third Test. England have headed back to Abu Dhabi for golf and rest, and their team talk in the lead-up to the next game is expected to be centred around India’s premier fast bowler; the Bazball-fuelled way to counter his reverse swing with the old ball. Against this backdrop, Bumrah opting out of the third Test to manage his workload would be a massive shot in the arm for the tourists.
The national selectors will announce the squad for the next two or three Tests soon. Now that the post-selection press conference has been done away with, there’s enough room for conjecture. The rumour on resting Bumrah could well be mind games, deliberately floated to keep the opponents guessing. Then again, Mohammed Siraj was rested for the second Test despite him bowling only 11 overs in Hyderabad. With transparency being kept at arm’s length, fans are wellwithin their rights to read between the lines.
Yes, Bumrah spent 11 months away from the game due to lower-back stress in 2022-23. From the ICC World Cup onwards last October/November, he has been playing non-stop. Also, Indian cricket needs to preserve him, wrapped in cotton wool. But a nine-day gap between two Tests should be enough for a player to rest and recuperate,
unless he is injured. Bumrah has publicly spoken about his love for Test cricket, and this is a marquee series. If he himself is asking for rest, then that’s a different issue. Else, playing without Bumrah could well be surrendering the initiative to England.
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