Former India batter Mohammad Kaif expressed his disappointment as India rested their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah against New Zealand in the second T20I of the five-match series in Raipur.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif justified his point by saying that Bumrah was coming after taking proper rest.
“Rest for what? What workload? Did he just come back after playing a lot? He has already come after taking proper rest. No, no, this thing just doesn’t make sense to me. If you want to give rest, give rest to Arshdeep Singh. If you want to bring in Harshit Rana, if Axar Patel is injured and you need batting at number eight, then rest Arshdeep and bring in Bumrah. I mean, why are we even comparing here? There is no comparison at all,” he said.
In Bumrah’s absence, Indian pacers were taken to the cleaners as Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana conceded runs at economy rates of 13.20 and 11.70 respectively. Hardik Pandya, who took the role of opening the bowling with Arshdeep, finished with figures of 1/25 in his three overs. Though India eventually won the match, questions were raised about their bowling performance. Bumrah was part of the first T20I after he was rested for the ODI series that took place prior to the T20I series against New Zealand.
Kaif added: “If Bumrah was left out because of a combination, saying that you need batting at number eight, then that is wrong. No power in the world can keep Bumrah out because of team combination. The team will adjust the combination, but Bumrah will play in the XI.”
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