The Jasprit Bumrah selection: How much cricket has he played since his comeback?

Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion in the first Test against Bangladesh was slightly surprising for multiple reasons. It was an ideal series to test fringe players ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, especially with several quality pacers coming through. While Bangladesh just beat Pakistan in their own backyard, India are still capable enough to win without their premium pacer in home Tests.

Further, the team management has been vigilant with his workload since his comeback from back surgery last year. His injury management has been so precise that Bumrah has only been allowed to feature in 51.56% of India games since his return. Every time there is any opportunity, Bumrah has taken a rest, even midway through the series.

After playing two T20I games in his comeback series, with one washed away, against Ireland, Bumrah played only four out of six matches of the Asia Cup. He missed one game due to the birth of his child against Nepal while resting against Bangladesh in Colombo. He didn’t bowl in one of the games against Pakistan due to incessant rain, meaning he bowled in only three matches in the tournament.

Then, Bumrah featured in two games in a three-match ODI series against Australia just before the World Cup. He didn’t play in the second ODI in Indore, playing in the first and third encounters. Since the World Cup and Asian Games collided, he couldn’t play in the latter.

Later, he played all 11 games in the World Cup without any break for the first time since his comeback. After the World Cup, he went on an extended break. Bumrah didn’t feature in the five-match T20I series against Australia at home, three-match T20I series and three-match ODI series against South Africa away from home, missing 11 games on the trot.

He finally returned for the two-match Test series against South Africa and participated in both games. After this rubber, Bumrah again got a month’s break and missed the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at home. Then, he returned for the five-match Test series against England in India.

Overall, Bumrah played four of the five matches in the rubber, missing the fourth Test in Ranchi. Then, he featured in 13 out of 14 IPL matches for Mumbai Indians (MI). After that, he played all eight games in the T20 World Cup; only his second series where he didn’t take any break.

SIMPLY UNPLAYABLE BY BUMRAH! 🤩🎳#JaspritBumrah cleans up #ReezaHendricks with a superb delivery and 🇮🇳 start on a brilliant note! 🙌🏻#T20WorldCupFinal | #INDvsSA | LIVE NOW pic.twitter.com/RJyerWvjuP

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 29, 2024

Since then, he has missed the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe and the three-match ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka away from home. He hasn’t played since the T20 World Cup 2024, missing all 11 games. While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned for the ODI series, Bumrah remained rested, and rightly so.

That raises the question of whether India required him for the Bangladesh series. They probably thought Bumrah had rested enough and should play a few games to get into the red-ball groove before the big assignments against New Zealand and Australia. It has nothing to do with getting match practice.

Also Read: Three key calls made in India’s first Test squad under Gautam Gambhir

Maybe India don’t want to take any risk after Bangladesh’s historic series win over Pakistan. Even against India, Bangladesh came close to winning the second Test in Dhaka in 2022. India haven’t sealed their place in the World Test Championship final, so they want to ensure a smooth route.

Mohammed Shami hasn’t played since the World Cup due to surgery, and his return date is uncertain. Had Bumrah not played, India would have had only Mohammed Siraj as an experienced pacer for the first Test. Sure, there’s quality in other speedsters, but they are still inexperienced at this level.

There might be some Gautam Gambhir effect as well. He wants his players to play as much as possible, and the recent series loss to Sri Lanka, even though in a different format, might have sent some urgency. The only thing they missed in the Sri Lanka series was the penetration of Jasprit Bumrah.

Hence, Bumrah is included in the first Test to win the game and be on the safer side. A win in this match will ensure India don’t lose the series. It looks certain that Bumrah will be rested for the second Test before returning for the New Zealand series.

The priority should be to keep Jasprit Bumrah fit for the five-match Test series down under, even if that means resting him for all five Test matches at home. He is skilled enough to get into the groove in a few net sessions. The management did it precisely before the World Cups, eventually proving effective, as Bumrah performed exceptionally well in both competitions.

He snared 20 wickets, joint fourth-most, at 18.65 runs apiece in 11 matches in the World Cup last year. Further, he was the joint third-leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cup 2024 with 15 wickets at a marvellous average of 8.27. Bumrah was the player of the series in India’s spotless campaign in the T20 World Cup.

Yes, he gets special treatment, but that’s how it should be. He is too precious to play against lower-ranked sides, especially at home, not to sound rude. Fortunately for India, they have several quality players to experiment with in his absence.

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