Just as India were celebrating their fine 106-run win over England in Vizag, rumours began to circulate that Jasprit Bumrah might be rested for the third Test in Rajkot, starting on February 15. The source has to be someone close to the team management or selection committee and the ‘excuse’ is workload management. On the face of it, the very thought of resting Bumrah, Bazball’s antidote, appears preposterous, when the series is 1-1 and there’s everything to play for in the next three Tests.
During England’s first innings in Vizag, Bumrah was seen briefly holding his right forearm and having a conversation with the team physio. He still went on to bowl 15.5 overs in that innings, claiming 6-45. In the second dig, he bowled another 17.2 overs, returning with 3-46. Even on a slow-turner, Bumrah did the bulk of India’s bowling and he couldn’t have done that if he picked up an injury or a niggle.
After a failed attempt in Hyderabad, India eventually decoded Bazball in Vizag, via individual brilliance, and the fast bowler was at the forefront of it. No disrespect to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s magnificent double hundred and Shubman Gill’s century, but Bumrah was the difference between the two sides, deservingly getting the Player-of-the-Match award.
Bumrah so far has bowled 57.5 overs in the ongoing series, in conditions that hardly assisted the seamers. A tally of 15 wickets at 10.66 is a testament to his genius that has taken the pitches and the conditions out of the equation. In a way, the 30-year-old, who reached the 150-wicket landmark in Vizag, offers a throwback to the famous West Indies pace quartet under Clive Lloyd, bowlers who used to make almost every external factor redundant. That was ‘Fire in Babylon’. Bumrah has fire in his belly and a stupendous skill-set, good enough to make the ball talk at his command.
In other news regarding the test match-
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After India’s victory in the second Test, the team’s head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that individual brilliance was the reason for success. “We were put under pressure at various times, but I think a couple of individual brilliances kept us in the game in the first couple of days,” Dravid said at the post-match press conference. He added: “Yashasvi’s brilliant innings, 209 in that first innings. And then, Bumrah’s spell really on the first two days kept us, or got us ahead by 140. And then, we needed a bit more of a team performance over days three and four to get us over the line.”
There’s a nine-day gap before the two teams meet again in Rajkot for the third Test. England have headed back to Abu Dhabi for golf and rest, and their team talk in the lead-up to the next game is expected to be centred around India’s premier fast bowler; the Bazball-fuelled way to counter his reverse swing with the old ball. Against this backdrop, Bumrah opting out of the third Test to manage his workload would be a massive shot in the arm for the tourists.
The national selectors will announce the squad for the next two or three Tests soon, and now that the post-selection press conference has been done away with, there’s enough room for conjecture. The Bumrah-rest rumour could well be mind games, deliberately floated to keep the opponents guessing. Then again, Mohammed Siraj was rested for the second Test despite him bowling only 11 overs in Hyderabad. With transparency being kept at arm’s length, fans are well within their rights to read between the lines.
Yes, Bumrah spent 11 months away from the game due to lower-back stress and from the World Cup onwards, he has been playing non-stop. Also, Indian cricket needs to preserve him wrapped in cotton wool. But a nine-day gap between two Tests should be enough for a player to rest and recuperate, unless he is injured. Bumrah has publicly spoken about his love for Test cricket, and this is a marquee series. If he himself is asking for rest, then that’s a different issue. Else, playing without Bumrah could well be surrendering the initiative to England.
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