Jasprit Bumrah skipped two matches in the India vs England Test series. The decision received mixed reviews. One viewpoint was about preservation and how important Bumrah is to the team’s success across formats in the years to come. Another was that the pacer left the team when it mattered the most.
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan have indirectly criticised the decision. But former India Test captain Ajinkya Rahane feels the decision was the right one from the team’s perspective. He lauded Bumrah, captain Shubman Gill, and head coach Gautam Gambhir for being on the same page.
Gill-Gambhir handled Bumrah situation well
Rahane thinks Bumrah took the right call by telling his captain and coach that his body won’t allow him to feature in all of the games. This helps them devise a plan when Bumrah won’t play.
“What I liked about the Bumrah situation was that he was pretty clear; he knew what he wanted to do before the series. He said, ‘I’ll play the first one, I won’t play the second one, and then I’ll play the third.’ Great clarity for a captain. It shows that he has the courage to tell the captain and management to be really clear,” Rahane said on his YouTube channel.
“It also shows that he is keeping the team ahead of himself. Sometimes it is not easy to do so when you are playing for India. As a player, when you are representing India, it’s not easy. Sometimes players convey the same message to the team, and then they get dropped. It just shows that he wanted the team to be well prepared even when he wasn’t playing,” he added.
All in all, the move worked well. Bumrah ended up as the most economical Indian bowler of the entire series. Despite missing two matches, he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the series, only behind Mohammed Siraj for India.
