Follow UsEight months ago, during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Jasprit Bumrah was unanimously hailed (and worshipped) as India’s greatest ever Test bowler — if not cricketer — but the 31-year-old’s availability, influenced by fitness issues, has now ended up dividing not just Indian fans, but some former cricketers too.
In order to carefully manage Bumrah, India are having to pick and choose matches and tournaments for him, and the Asia Cup next month is no different. Initial reports suggest that the speedster is all set to play the Asia Cup, but there is no official confirmation on that front yet.
Time will tell whether India will utilise their ultimate weapon for the Asia Cup, but here we look at multiple reasons why, regardless of his fitness, the Men in Blue should NOT play the ace speedster in the multi-nation tournament next month.
This might sound arrogant and condescending, but India don’t *need* Jasprit Bumrah to help them win the Asia Cup. The Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy without Bumrah’s services, and it goes without saying that they’ll be overwhelming favorites for the Asia Cup even without Bumrah.
Yes, the tournament is being played in the subcontinent, but you can hardly call it ‘preparation’ for the 2026 T20WC, given that the tournament is over six months away. If anything, India would be much better off playing Bumrah (and their full-strength XI) in the white-ball games against Australia in October / November (both ODIs and T20Is), given the tour is set to be an extremely intense one.
Quality over quantity should be the approach India should have with regards to Bumrah.
Bumrah is a lock in the T20I XI and so is Arshdeep Singh, but what about the others? Who is capable of being a quality third seamer? Who is ready to step up and do a job for the side?
This is something India will need to figure out ahead of the T20WC, and this upcoming Asia Cup presents a golden opportunity. The likes of Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj and others will all be in the mix, and if Bumrah is rested, India will get the chance to try out all these speedsters.
However, Bumrah and Arshdeep both playing the Asia Cup will mean no game-time for the backups, and that will be a wasted opportunity. We know for a fact that India will certainly play a full-strength team against Australia, so the Asia Cup is the window to experiment.
Is Bumrah *fit* enough to play the Asia Cup? Probably. However, as we clearly saw in the England tour, he is not 100% fit by any means. And India would be doing themselves no favor by having a fragile bowler play in a competition that, let’s face it, is extremely low-stakes. It’s simply not worth the risk.
Instead, an extended break would enable Bumrah to focus on recovery, and also mentally reset himself after what’s been a difficult couple of months.
A fresh Bumrah in October will let India decide whether they wanna use him in the home Test season. It will also ensure that he is fresh, fit and firing for the Australia tour, which is set to be a litmus Test for this group ahead of the T20WC.