Sanjay Manjrekar recently said that the Test team must adapt to Jasprit Bumrah rather than the other way around. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra commented to this statement. In recent years, Bumrah’s task management has been under intense scrutiny.
Notably, during the recent five-match series against England, Bumrah was rested for two games. His level of fitness drew criticism from the frontline pacer.
Aakash Chopra, however, believed that such a problem need to be viewed from a pragmatic perspective.
“I was reading the article by Sanjay Manjrekar. He stated in the Hindustan Times that Bumrah should adapt for the team rather than the other way around. I am aware that many people have different ideas about what ought to be done. To be honest, I don’t believe he will play every Test match. He will make his own decisions. It’s not a moral or ethical discussion, in my opinion, whether it’s right or wrong. In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “If you have a player of that level available, play him whenever he can.”
If Bumrah had been a batter, the cricketer-turned-commentator believed that his partial availability would have been a problem. The 47-year-old also asked fans and the media not to pressure Bumrah into retiring from red-ball cricket too soon.
“As a bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, you can readily modify the bowling combination. The difference is insignificant. There would have been an issue if Bumrah, who could have been a batter, a No. 4, or an opener, had stated that he would play two games and then stop playing. In a sequence of three or four Test matches, bowlers must be rotated regardless,” he continued.
“No bowler compares to Bumrah. Because he is 24-carat pure gold, don’t force him to retire early. He is the diamond of Kohinoor. It gets better the longer he plays. Although I don’t think he will play a lot of Test cricket, I would advise holding onto it for however long he does. “That’s just how I feel,” Chopra said.
India
