Jasprit Bumrah likely to be rested adequately during the IPL keeping the World Cup in mind

Jasprit Bumrah was recently called the “Virat Kohli of Indian bowling” by former India opener Aakash Chopra and rightly so for the Gujarat pacer has been delivering at every given opportunity. The 25-year-old pacer ended his inaugural year in Test cricket on a tremendous note, picking 48 wickets in nine matches to be the fourth highest wicket-taker in the year.

All his 48 wickets have come abroad and he is the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing Australia-India series from either side with 20 scalps in three matches so far. Bumrah returned with figures of 9/86 to pick up the Man of the Match award; his impact on the game’s outcome was humongous.

However, India is also keeping a note of the fact that Bumrah has been shouldering the responsibilities for some time now and given his history of sustaining injuries, the 25-year-old might be given the necessary rest during the twin ODI tournaments in Australia and New Zealand in the run-up to the ICC World Cup 2019. Bumrah will be one of India’s major weapons in the quadrennial tournament scheduled in England and Wales in May-July.

Bumrah has bowled nearly 400 overs in Tests this year

Bumrah, who made his Test debut in South Africa earlier this year, has bowled close to 380 overs in nine Tests while Mohammed Shami, who ended up with a wicket less than the former in Tests in 2018, bowled almost 384 overs though he played 12 matches. The third member of India’s pace troika Ishant Sharma bowled 335 overs while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled the most – 386 overs.

Of the four, Sharma and Ashwin do not figure in India’s scheme of things for the World Cup but Bumrah and Shami do and hence reducing their workload is one of the priorities of the team management at the moment. India will be playing 13 ODIs ahead of the World Cup – eight against Australia both away and home and five against the Black Caps.

Bumrah will be one of India’s main pillars in the fourth Test in Sydney starting January 3 and also for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League scheduled to start in March. Those assignments will see Bumrah getting worked up more and hence timely rest for the bowler is a key for his freshness and fitness ahead of the World Cup.

The BCCI is also likely to convey to the Mumbai Indians the idea of using Bumrah judiciously during the IPL keeping in mind the World Cup. “For someone of Virat’s stature, he can take a call himself and discuss with his franchise about his workload. However, for Bumrah, the Indian team’s support staff will need to prepare all the relevant data so that we can have a discussion with MI if the situation arises,” Times of India cited reports as quoting a source in the BCCI.

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