Jasprit Bumrah’s ‘Fan’ Sanjay Manjrekar turns ‘Hater’, pressures BCCI to drop him as frontline bowler

Former India National Cricket Team batter Sanjay Manjrekar has launched a fresh attack on the superstar right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

Sanjay Manjrekar stated that the Indian cricket team should not adjust for Jasprit Bumrah, and the speedster shouldn't be the team's "frontline pick" if he is unable to play more than two matches on the trot.

Two Tests India won were two matches Bumrah did not play - Sanjay Manjrekar

The criticism of Jasprit Bumrah has only kept increasing since the end of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 between India and England.

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Bumrah has been at the receiving end of a heavy backlash because of his limited availability in India's first series in the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Team India entered the five-match Test series against England with a pre-planned strategy of Bumrah being available only for three matches to avoid any injuries and manage his workload.

This led to the former cricketers, experts, and fans raising questions over Jasprit Bumrah's commitment to the team, and the BCCI selection committee and team management also came under scrutiny for allowing the pacer to pick and choose matches.

In his latest column for Hindustan Times, the former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was, as usual, quite blunt in sharing his views on the Jasprit Bumrah matter.

Sanjay Manjrekar said that India winning two matches on the tour without Jasprit Bumrah was "poetic justice" and urged selectors to be bold while taking calls on big players. He stated:

"The second point I will make is this, that the game will always show us the mirror however much we try and gloss over things. It was poetic justice that the two Tests India won were the two matches Bumrah did not play.

"This should embolden the Indian selectors to make some hard choices when it comes to big-name players. This series has been a great lesson to them and to us too, the two Tests victories India achieved did not feature Virat (Kohli), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Rohit (Sharma), (Mohammed) Shami and Bumrah too! It reminded us of the eternal truth of sport and life, no one, however great, is indispensable."

Also Read: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's forced retirements due to Gautam Gambhir's politics!! Full Story OUT

Jasprit Bumrah must not be your frontline pick - Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar further urged BCCI selectors not to consider Jasprit Bumrah a frontline pick anymore; instead, show more faith in players who are fully match-fit. He elaborated:

"And this is how India must handle Bumrah. If he cannot play more than two matches in a row or sometimes even more than one, he must not be your frontline pick. Players who are match fit, eager, keen to play and perform should be picked any day for me over a highly skilled player. It will motivate such enthusiastic players even more.

"This is not an idealistic position to take, but it’s the right one for the long-term health of a team sport. In this series, Akash Deep & Siraj replicated the Bumrah impact in the two wins, of course, this is not likely to become a pattern, but it should give the selectors the guts to take hard calls on big-name players, just as they do with Kuldeep Yadav."

Indian cricket must not adjust for Bumrah, Bumrah must - Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar signed off by dropping a bold remark, stating "Indian cricket must not adjust for Bumrah, Bumrah must," and added that he is still a big fan of the pacer.

"As for Bumrah, of whom I am a fan, if he really wants to serve Indian Test cricket, longevity and durability is an imperative for him, it’s after all the true test of a great athlete is to still turn up when not 100% fit and deliver," he stated.

"Indian cricket must not adjust for Bumrah, Bumrah must. That is, if he wants to. By making some tough choices or working even harder on his fitness, this fitness bar can be raised to whatever levels one wants, like all fast bowling greats have done before him."