Resting Jasprit Bumrah For Australia ODIs – Genius Strategy Or Blunder In Disguise? (AP)
During the Pakistan tour of Australia in 2024, the highest team total in the three-match series was 204, which tells a lot about the wickets Australia have been preparing of late. Yes, the previous series against South Africa was a high-scoring one, but the matches were not played at regular venues, but in Cairns and Mackay.
India picked a batting-heavy squad, hoping the series would be a high-scoring one, but with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not in great form, and given the pitches that might be on offer, India may have to defend low scores in the series, and this is where Bumrah was a must.
Why Was Jasprit Bumrah Rested, And Was It A Good Move?Jasprit Bumrah played three Tests in England and then featured in the Test series against the West Indies. He was also included in the T20I series against Australia thus he was rested from the ODI series to manage his workload. The decision, however, wasn’t well-received, and many felt that Bumrah should have played the ODI series.
West Indies were never going to test India in home conditions, and India would have won the series even without Bumrah. And he bowled 52 overs across two Tests, in scorching heat, which was much more risky than bowling 10 overs each in three ODIs. The BCCI might have wanted to save Bumrah from playing eight back-to-back games, including five T20Is, but there was always an option to rest him from a couple of games as the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are far better T20I bowlers.
India are looking at the T20 World Cup next year, and want to play Bumrah in most T20Is, but the ODI World Cup is also not that far, and India play far fewer ODIs than T20Is en route to the mega event in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, thus the move to rest Bumrah from a very important ODI series for a Tests that could have been won even without him was baffling for many.