“Very careful” about managing Bumrah’s workload, says Rohit after the loss in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.
“Very careful” was the message that Rohit Sharma conveyed with regards to ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah’s workload.
Few bowlers have ever had Jasprit Bumrah bowl as well for India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. At an average of 12.83, he has taken 30 wickets. At 41.33, the remaining players have 36 wickets. The captain, Rohit Sharma, was questioned about the possibility of over-bowling Bumrah shortly after India’s defeat in the Melbourne Test, where the 31-year-old fast bowler claimed a five-for and fell 1-2 with one Test remaining.
“Yeah, there is,” Rohit said. “To be honest, he has bowled a lot of overs. There is no doubt about it. But again, every Test match we play, we keep that in mind. You know, the workloads of all the bowlers in fact. But again, if somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximise that form how much ever you can. And that is what we’ve been trying to do with Bumrah.
“But there comes a time where you need to step back a little bit and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. So, we’ve been very careful. I’ve been very careful. I talk to him about how he feels and stuff like that. So, yeah. Those things should be managed carefully. And I’m trying to do that on the field.”
The most overs Bumrah has ever bowled in a Test match is 53.2 at the MCG. His workload now stands at 141.2 for the series, surpassing that of Pat Cummins (136.4), Mitchell Starc (131.2), and Mohammed Siraj (129.1).
India lost a thrilling fifty to a 19-year-old debutant on Boxing Day, as well as one significant, game-changing century in Adelaide, two in Brisbane, and another in Melbourne. If India had added another front-line bowling option rather than cramming all-rounders into the back-end of the XI, would they have been a more formidable threat?
“Look, Akash Deep (five wickets at 54) and Mohammed Siraj (16 wickets at 31) are the frontline seamers,” Rohit said. “It’s just that they’ve been very unfortunate not to be seen on the wicket column.
“Siraj, especially, is bowling his heart out. I don’t think there’s anything else that he can do. Obviously, there are technical aspects of his game that he’s looking into. But other than that, in terms of his effort, his attitude, bowling those long spells, he’s always up there. It’s just that the wicket column doesn’t show how well he’s bowled.
“So is Akash. In Brisbane and here, in both the games, he’s bowled really well. It’s just unfortunate that he couldn’t get the wickets under his name. It’s just everyone’s job to make sure that whoever plays needs to get the job done for the team. It’s not about one or two individuals.”
Nitish Kumar Reddy, India’s other seamer, acknowledged on Sunday that while his hitting is improving—he helped India rally from 191 for 6 in the first innings with his first Test century—he wished he could do more with the ball. In their last four Test matches, Reddy has only contributed 35 of India’s 542.2 overs.
“When we saw him [Reddy] for the first time, we saw there’s a lot of potential, which is why he came here in the first place,” Rohit said. “And he’s come and shown here what he’s capable of. You know, with the bat, he was brilliant.
“He understood the situation pretty well, read the situation pretty well. And he’s got solid technique as well. And superb mind, not to forget.”