"There's no point in...": Aakash Chopra counters Gautam Gambhir’s call on managing Jasprit Bumrah's workload

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Aakash Chopra has opined that the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah should himself get the opportunity to decide if he needs rest for the second Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

India and New Zealand will lock horns with each other in the second Test of the three-match series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune from Wednesday, October 23.

Gautam Gambhir Tells Workload Management Depends On Outcome Of Matches

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, India head coach Gautam Gambhir indirectly confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will feature in the second Test against the Kiwis.

He further said that they will monitor Jasprit Bumrah along with other pacers after the match in Pune to see where they stand at the moment.

Gambhir, meanwhile, was as usual very blunt with his statement as he asserted that the outcome of the Pune Test will have an impact on workload management, hinting that they would look to continue with the same pacers, if the result doesn't go in their favour.

Jasprit Bumrah has so far played all three home Test matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand and after the conclusion of the ongoing series he will travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where the team management would be expecting him to play all five matches.

I think the choice should be left to him - Aakash Chopra

In a recent interaction with India Today as an expert from JioCinema, Aakash Chopra said that Jasprit Bumrah should play the second Test if he is fully fine and there is no point in resting him. According to Aakash Chopra, Indian team management should leave the decision of whether to play or not to Jasprit Bumrah.

"There's still a lot of time for the Australia Test. This Test (against New Zealand) will get over by 5th November, and they will play 4 T20Is which he will not play. It's not like we are playing a Test every week. I think the choice should be left to him. If he is feeling 100%, and he wants to play, there is no point in telling him not to because of certain injury management protocols," Aakash Chopra said.

"All said and done, ever since we have seen this workload management issue come up, its not like bowlers have not been injured that often...so I would leave it to Bumrah. Would have been different if it was someone else but with Bumrah, it should be left to him," Aakash Chopra added.

This Indian team have followed a philosophy that... - Aakash Chopra

Another major headache for India heading into the second Test would be to pick a batter between Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul. Notably, Sarfaraz Khan played a stunning knock of 150 runs in the Bengaluru Test whereas KL Rahul totally flopped. With Shubman Gill returning for the Pune Test only one among Sarfaraz and Rahul can feature in the match.

In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra discussed this matter and said:

"This Indian team have followed a philosophy that if the original choice player becomes fit and available, he will return and whoever has played in his place will go out. Secondly, when there was a question before the first Test that who would go at No. 3, the captain and coach said they were feeling very comfortable with playing Rahul at six and they didn't want to move him.

"It seems like they were thinking that it's a makeshift. Now that Sarfaraz has scored a century and Rahul has failed in the two innings, a big question has come. I was seeing KL Rahul's numbers. The numbers are not that good. An average of 33 in 53 matches is not great."