'You can’t expect him to deliver in every series' - Ashish Nehra after Jasprit Bumrah's woeful performance in New Zealand

Team India suffered the ignominy of an unexpected 0-3 whitewash at the hands of the New Zealanders in the recently-concluded One-day International series after having won the preceding five-match Twenty20 International rubber against the same opposition.

The lack of penetration by the Indian bowling unit, including spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who for the first time in his career went wicketless in three consecutive games. Bumrah has claimed just a solitary wicket in the six ODIs that he has played since his comeback from injury and lack of discipline has been a usual thing that we have seen from the champion fast bowler.

Every Indian cricket fan including former cricketers like VVS Laxman has expressed their concerns over Bumrah’s form. However, former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra isn’t that worried. According to Nehra, there is too much pressure on Bumrah, and given the fact that he is returning from injury, one can’t expect him to be on the money all the time.

“You can’t expect Bumrah to deliver in every series. One has to remember he is returning from injury. It’s difficult for anybody to keep performing at the top of his game all the time. Even Virat Kohli has had a quiet series,” former India pacer Ashish Nehra told TOI.

‘There’s too much pressure on Bumrah’: Ashish Nehra

Nehra, however, went on to add that India are too dependent on Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah and the management would do well if they define the role of the third pacer, urging them to be more consistent with their team selections.

“The Indian team management could be much better while picking the playing XI. The other pacers, besides Bumrah and (Mohammad) Shami, need to know their roles. They have got used to having Bumrah and Shami firing for the last two years. There’s too much pressure on Bumrah. There has been very little consistency in the team selection so far,” Nehra further added.

With injury cloud hanging over Ishant Sharma, Nehra reckoned that Navdeep Saini, given the fact that he has the momentum of playing in New Zealand, would be a better option as compared to Umesh Yadav, in case Ishant is ruled out.

“In the current scenario, Saini is better prepared for Test cricket than Umesh Yadav, since he has the momentum with the team. But he largely depends on the back-of a-length deliveries. If he can get his length a bit fuller at his pace, he would open up more chances of getting wickets behind the stumps,” Nehra said.

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