We need to be careful that Jasprit Bumrah is not over-used: MSK Prasad

Although the Indian team lost the Test series 1-2 against South Africa, Jasprit Bumrah’s emergence as a Test match bowler has been India’s biggest gain on the tour. And national selection committee chairman MSK Prasad made it clear that the Gujarat speedster’s “workload management” is of paramount importance to him.

The 24-year-old, who earned his Test debut on the South Africa tour bowled a whopping 162.1 overs across three formats, including 112.1 overs in Test series. The chairman also indicated that Jasprit Bumrah will be used only for the “important Test series” as his slinging action is one of the rarest of rare. The anomalous, sling-arm action and natural pace, coupled with the peculiar release point of Bumrah’s deliveries make it hard for any batsmen to pick him.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with PTI, Prasad said, “I am delighted with Jasprit’s performance. We always had confidence in his abilities as he had done well for Gujarat in Ranji Trophy. But now our primary goal is to monitor his workload very carefully with so much international cricket ahead. We need to be careful that he is not over-used.”

He added, “If you look at his action, it is a rare one and he can be prone to injuries. We need to use him for the important Test series coming ahead. For each and every fast bowler, the balance of workload is very important and the high-performance team will be monitoring it closely.”

The aim is to build a proper bench-strength

The other big gain has been the performance of the two young wrist spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who shared 33 wickets between them in India’s emphatic 5-1 win in the ODI series. Prasad believes that wrist spinners are  ‘wicket-taking investments’ that they had to make.

He also opined that the endeavor of the current selection committee is to create a proper bench-strength and they are slowly but surely inching towards that goal.