Legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar has advised Team India to make plans for the Asia Cup, suggesting that pace leader Jasprit Bumrah be rested for both the opening Super 4 match against Pakistan and the dead-rubber match against Oman.
With easy victories over the UAE and Pakistan, India has already secured the top spot in Group A, thus the match against Oman in Abu Dhabi will serve as a chance to switch up the roster. India’s rematch versus Pakistan is scheduled on September 21, 2025, when the Super 4s get underway this weekend. According to the former, Bumrah is still India’s top wicket-taker in Twenty20 Internationals, and his contributions to the squad during crucial matches might outweigh the necessity of benching him in a dead rubber.
The batsmen would get some preparation from this for both the match against Pakistan and the forthcoming Super 4 games against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The preparation of the batsmen is more important than that of the bowlers. In order for Jasprit Bumrah to be fit for the more important game on Sunday, the 28th, against Sri Lanka, I think he should be rested, possibly even for the Pakistan match. India ought to be considering that. Bumrah should be benched for tomorrow’s game to give him rest, but of course one bench player must be involved,” Gavaskar stated, as reported by India Today.
Gavaskar talked about using the Oman match to assess bench strength and give middle-order options, who have not seen a ball yet, important batting time.
“I hope India will think about batting first and stick with the same opening duo. Perhaps the captain, number three, Suryakumar Yadav, might move down the order, allowing Sanju Samson to get a little hit as well as providing Tilak Verma an opportunity to spend some time at the crease,” Gavaskar continued.
India’s likely starting lineup versus Oman
Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), and Abhishek Sharma
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