Jasprit Bumrah has been Team India’s best bowler in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy. And Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that India took proper care of the bowler, after his latest bout of injury. Gavaskar did claim that India overbowled him but then argued that it was quite natural as Bumrah was India’s best bowler in the entire series.
The veteran pacer emerged as the highest wicket taker in the entire series. Jasprit Bumrah went on to scalp 32 wickets in 5 games, 7 scalps more than second placed Pat Cummins. However, on Day 2 of the Sydney Test, Bumrah suffered a back spasm and couldn’t bowl on Day 3 where India eventually lost the game and the series.
No blame on team management for over bowling Bumrah
“I think they did what was best for the team, because without him, India would not have been in any position in the series. And therefore, when you have a bowler, who’s taking the wickets, you tend to overbowl him to an extent and that is totally understandable. I don’t think we can blame the team management for this because they and Bumrah were only looking to do what was good for the team at that particular point in time,” Gavaskar told India Today in an interview.
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“Yes, they would have. Look, it’s a back injury. Bumrah is a very, very dedicated cricketer. And so I think even if he had been a little bit able to bowl, he would have come out and bowled. Therefore, I was praying overnight that, he could maybe come and bowl just four or five overs with the new ball. And I knew that India would not be able to set Australia a target of more than 190 and 200. So if he could have come in bowl, four or five overs at the start, then that would have made a big difference,” Gavaskar added.
Bumrah has had his time with injuries. But consistently overbowling in the IND vs AUS Test series surely wore out the ace pacer. Gavaskar claimed that had Bumrah bowled less, India would have been in a more difficult position. He claimed that Bumrah kept India alive in the entire series till the Sydney Test match.
“I think what really took the load for him was the fourth day in Melbourne, where he bowled eight to nine different spells of three to four overs. And I think that really took a toll on his body. And there was actually a video of him saying to Rohit Sharma, ‘ab bass ho gaya’, and which actually tells you that even for a man who loves bowling, who enjoys taking wickets for India, the load had just got a little too much,” Gavaskar concluded.
