Follow UsThe Indian management stayed true to their words, playing ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah for just three Tests in the ongoing series against England. Just days before the Oval Test, there was a temptation to play Bumrah for a ‘fourth possible Test’, considering he had bowled just once in Manchester.
But India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealed that the management wanted to respect Bumrah’s body and workload. Across the three Tests, Bumrah had bowled 119.4 overs, the fourth-most for a pacer in the series, where he picked up 14 wickets, averaging 26.00.
"You know, he did say he was going to play three games. He left it up to us which three he played. We've tried to manage the situation," ten Doeschate said in the post-day press conference.
"You know, we obviously want to wheel him out, but we also want to respect where his body's at," ten Doeschate said. "And on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn't worth including him in the squad [XI for the Oval Test]. You know, he has bowled a large number of overs. I know it doesn't always seem like that because he's only played three Tests and he only bowled in one innings in Manchester,” he added.
"But if you look at the loads, he has bowled a lot of overs. And like he did say coming into the tour, he was going to be available for three games. And we just felt it was right to honour that call."
India’s assistant coach also revealed the thought process behind India not playing Bumrah at Lord’s.
"Yeah, every time I've answered this question, I've spoken about putting the pieces of the puzzles together. And guys were baffled when we didn't play him in the third [second] Test," ten Doeschate said.
"And our thinking, yeah, was that The Oval, yes, it's got bounce, but it's normally a fairly good wicket for batting on. And we thought if we had rolled the dice in Manchester, obviously if we had won the toss, we would have bowled. In hindsight, you would have loved to have him here. But you would also have said if we'd come here 3-1 down that we didn't use him there,” he said.
He was also quick in praising the English management, stating that it was ‘spot-on’ from the hosts for leaving a good, spicy wicket for the last Test.
"So it's trying to not guess, but trying to look into the future and then try to see how we can manage him. And maybe England have got it spot on, leaving the best bowling wicket for the last test after he's played three."