Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, speaking on his YouTube channel, discussed Jasprit Bumrah’s importance to India’s Test team and suggested that the pace ace should be playing all five matches in the ongoing series against England. De Villiers emphasized that this series should be a priority for both Bumrah and the Indian team management.
“He is probably the top bowler in the world in all formats right now. So, it’s very difficult to decide a way to rest him. But in my opinion, Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game. And this Test series probably would’ve been the one, in my opinion, to get him ready for all five Test matches,” De Villiers said.
He strengthened his argument by drawing a parallel to former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn. De Villiers recalled how the team carefully managed Steyn’s workload to keep him fresh for big Test series.
“That’s what we used to do with Dale (Steyn). Rest him in lesser important T20 and ODI series and get him ready for the big Test series against Australia, England, and India away from home… New Zealand to a certain extent, depending on the rankings at that time,” he stated.
AB de Villiers Comments on India’s Potential Mismanagement
With the second Test at Edgbaston approaching, Bumrah’s availability remains uncertain. While De Villiers acknowledged that medical advice could be behind the cautious approach, he also pointed to possible mismanagement by the team regarding Bumrah’s injury handling.
“So, I don’t know if it was mismanagement or perhaps because he recently got back from injury, sort of saw the IPL as the warmup phase. Maybe, went to the surgeon, who let him know, ‘You can’t play the five Test matches.’ So, I mean you got to respect that, and at the end of the day, it’s up to Team India to sort of manage him well,” he said.
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