“That should be the logic” - Sunil Gavaskar wants Jasprit Bumrah to play all four scheduled red-ball games this year

Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has opened up on the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who recently took part in three out of five Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England to manage his workload.

In his column for Mid-day, Gavaskar stated that Bumrah needs to be available for all four remaining Tests of the year against West Indies and South Africa, which will enhance India’s chances of making it to the WTC 2025-27 final.

Furthermore, Gavaskar asserted that Bumrah needs to be rested for all the white ball series against Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand in order to get enough game time in all four red-ball games.

“What is more important? Qualifying for the World Test Championship or playing some bilateral white ball games which have no bearing at all. If India have to qualify for the WTC, then Jasprit Bumrah, being the premier fast bowler in the game, has to play in the four Tests that India have lined up between early October and late November,” Gavaskar wrote for Mid-day in his column.

“There’s a gap of a month between these Tests against West Indies and South Africa which means that he should be rested for the white ball series. That should be the logic but then Indian cricket have got its own logic as was seen in the recently concluded series,” he went on to write.

Moreover, Gavaskar also wrote on Bumrah being rested for the fifth and final Test against England at the Oval when the series was on stake, adding that this is where the lines between what is good for the individual and the Indian cricket got a little blurred.

“There’s already been a lot of debate about his appearances in the recently concluded series in England. To be fair, he had informed the selection committee that he could play only three Tests out of the five. The debate that has generated some heat is whether he should have played the last must-win Test match, especially since it was the grassiest pitch at the Oval in a long long time,” he noted.

“The next Test match was in early October and so there were two clear months for him to rest and recover in time for that. The Indian team management stated that he wasn’t picked considering his future. This is where the lines between what is good for the individual and what is good for Indian cricket got a little blurred,” he concluded.

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