Stick To White-Ball Cricket: Former India All-Rounder's Advice To Jasprit Bumrah

Recently, India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has had to cut down on his game time to manage his workload. Since sustaining a back injury in the Border-Gavaskar Tests (BGT), Bumrah has been used very carefully. He played just two of the five Tests in England, but since then, barring the ODIs against Australia, he has played every game, including four home Tests agianst West Indies and South Africa.

With one eye on the T20 World Cup 2026, Bumrah has once again not been picked for the ODIs against South Africa, but will return for the T20I series. Keeping this in mind, former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has urged Bumrah to just stick to white-ball cricket.

“If I were anywhere near him, I'd tell him to stick to white-ball cricket," Ashwin said in a chat with AB de Villiers on YouTube.

"Unless India desperately need him, don’t step into the Test side. But I know him well. He loves the format and wants to keep playing despite the challenge.”

Ashwin also wants Bumrah to play in Tests only when it matters and not every game to prolong his career.  “For India’s sake and Bumrah’s sake, I’d rather he focus on T20 cricket. Not waste energy on meaningless ODIs. Play only the Tests that matter, especially the away ones. And we should be developing a group of fast bowlers for home conditions anyway," he said.

De Villiers agreed with the veteran Indian cricketer, calling for Bumrah's participation only outside Asia. “I’d pull him out of all the home and Asian Tests,” de Villiers said. 

“Use him only in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Keep him fresh for those, and let him focus on the white-ball formats where World Cups are on the line.”

In Bumrah's absence, India have the pace options of Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Ashdeep Singh and also all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy for the ODIs against South Africa, starting November 30 (Sunday) in Ranchi.