Why rest Jasprit Bumrah? Gautam Gambhir accused of bias as Mohammed Siraj plays non-stop

Former India National Cricket Team batsman, Mohammad Kaif, was not a happy man seeing the team rest the premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, in the second T20I against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

Mohammad Kaif felt that it was a wrong call to provide the rest to Jasprit Bumrah for the Raipur T20I, and it didn't make any sense to him as to why such a decision was made by the Gautam Gambhir-led team management.

Jasprit Bumrah - India's most important asset

Jasprit Bumrah is the most important asset of the Indian cricket team currently, and he is being wrapped in cotton wool by the BCCI selection committee to ensure that he remains fully fit and fine for the important matches.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Bumrah has been given a special privilege by the BCCI, and he is never asked to report for domestic cricket duties, as the team management wants to ensure he stays away from injuries.

The right-arm quick doesn't play regular cricket for Team India, and every now and then, he gets rested. A similar case occurred during the Raipur T20I against New Zealand, as India decided to replace him with Harshit Rana in the playing XI.

Notably, Jasprit Bumrah played the first match against the Kiwis in Nagpur, where he bowled four overs and returned with figures of 0/29.

Rest for what? What workload? - Mohammad Kaif blasts India's 'Jasprit Bumrah' decision

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mohammad Kaif bluntly stated that India made a wrong move by resting Jasprit Bumrah, and he felt that there was no need to take such a call, irrespective of what combination the team needed. He elaborated:

“Rest for what? What workload? Did he just come back after playing a lot? He has already come after taking proper rest. No, no, this thing just doesn’t make sense to me. If you want to give rest, give rest to Arshdeep Singh. If you want to bring in Harshit Rana, if Axar Patel is injured and you need batting at number eight, then rest Arshdeep and bring in Bumrah. I mean, why are we even comparing here? There is no comparison at all.”

"If Bumrah was left out because of a combination, saying that you need batting at number eight, then that is wrong. No power in the world can keep Bumrah out because of the team combination. The team will adjust the combination, but Bumrah will play in the XI,” he added.

He plays Ranji, he plays Vijay Hazare - Mohammad Kaif on Mohammed Siraj

Mohammad Kaif, in particular, was unhappy seeing Bumrah get preferential treatment as another premier pacer of India - Mohammed Siraj - is asked to consistently play domestic cricket to prove his credentials every time. Mohammad Kaif elaborated:

“A bowler like Jasprit Bumrah cannot be rested after one match. He hasn’t even been playing that much anyway. He didn’t play ODIs. Bumrah has already come after taking a rest. He doesn’t even play domestic cricket much. Siraj, on the other hand, goes and plays domestic cricket whenever he gets the chance. He plays Ranji, he plays Vijay Hazare. Bumrah has come properly rested.”

"Now if you talk about rest, yes, rest is taken when a player has played continuously, has body soreness, or has some back issue. I don’t know what it is. That’s when a player is rested, or when workload management is involved. But on both these points, I don’t agree here."

Also Read: Sanju Samson’s career on the line! Guwahati T20I to decide his India future