London: Jasprit Bumrah’s tour of England has finished with him playing three out of the fives Tests as per the initial plan. The team management and selectors made peace with the arrangement when they picked the star pacer for the tour more than two months ago.
It has now emerged that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) may be revisiting its policy regarding Bumrah.
The Indian team management, despite it being publicly known at the start of the tour that Bumrah would be available to play just three Tests, didn’t confirm his unavailability till the eve of the final Test at the Oval.
Sources
told TOI that it was becoming challenging to plan for a long series without knowing which games Bumrah would play — or not play — due to his workload concerns.
LATEST: Jasprit Bumrah released from India squad for fifth TestThis is why there is an inclination to tweak the policy and consider Bumrah for selection only if he is available for an entire series. It has also been highlighted that the medical team should provide Bumrah’s fitness report before each selection meeting.
“Strength and condition (S&C) coaches can set the workload threshold for each player. But Bumrah’s availability should depend on his fitness, which will be assessed by the medical team,” a BCCI source said.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!India don’t play another five-Test series for a couple of years now. They only have two-Test home series against West Indies and South Africa this year.
Two days before the Oval Test, India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak explained how workload is measured. “It is about a bowler putting in a certain number of overs per week. If he’s preparing for a T20 and putting in six overs for five days, that is good enough workload for T20. So, for preparing for the Test series when they were playing IPL, the bowling coach and the S&C team were all in contact with them,” he said.
Jasprit Bumrah walks up the stairs after injuring his ankle against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. (Video grab)
“In the build-up over the last four-five weeks, there should not be any spike. If a bowler is putting in 30 overs per week, and suddenly, in the first inning, he's put in 35 overs, then that’s the spike in his load. It also depends on whether the bowler himself feels I’m tired. Then, they will think about the load,” he added.
When Bumrah went for the Australia tour last winter, his workload was around 45-50 overs a Test. However, he didn’t break down in the fifth and final Test in Sydney because he bowled around 52 overs in the previous Test in Melbourne. It was because he put more load in a single session.
When Kotak was asked about the probability of Bumrah playing at the Oval, he said: “He has bowled in one inning in the last match. The head coach, our physio and captain will have a discussion and decide.”
Bumrah had bowled 33 overs in Manchester spread across three days. On the eve of the match, Gill insisted that they would take a call on Bumrah on the morning of the Test since the pitch looked very green.
Stokes-vs-Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah bowls during the Test series against England with Ben Stokes watching on. (Getty Images)
When England captain Ben Stokes put in a superhuman effort of bowling two 10-over spells on the last day of the third Test at Lord’s, comparisons with Bumrah’s conservative workload started doing the rounds. The Indian team management started leaning towards Bumrah for the fourth Test in Manchester after Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh suffered injuries during the break between the two Tests.
However, it turned out Stokes was pushing his limits in Manchester. He subsequently broke down and was forced to miss the final Test here. Bumrah and the Indian team management, maybe, learnt their lesson.
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