New Delhi [India], June 6 : Former cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra weighed in on the limited utilisation of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah during India's five high-stakes Tests in England, scheduled to begin on June 20 at Headingley.
During the announcement of India's squad for the upcoming Test tour of England, chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed Bumrah was advised not to contest in consecutive Tests as part of his workload management. The precaution around Bumrah's usage stems from a stress reaction in the back during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January.
He missed India's victory campaign in the Champions Trophy and returned to action for the Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). On Wednesday, head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that they have yet to take a call on which Tests India will field Bumrah in the playing XI.
For Aakash, it will be "tempting" to use Bumrah in "tougher" conditions, especially at "trickier" Birmingham and The Oval (second and fifth Tests), where India would need its "experienced" bowlers to deliver.
"It'll be tempting to play him in tougher conditions--because in difficult situations, you want your best players. You'd want Kohli in a crunch chase; similarly, you want Bumrah in bowler-friendly conditions. The Oval and Birmingham will be trickier. The pitches are flatter, and you'll need very experienced bowlers. The call will come down to how Bumrah's body is responding. But if it were up to me, I'd play him where the conditions are toughest--because that's where he gives you the biggest edge," he said on JioHotstar.
India will line up without its batting bigwigs, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who announced their retirement from Test cricket last month. With India short on experience and lining up with a young Shubman Gill as captain, Aaksh feels the expectations around the young team will make the upcoming challenge in England "harder."
"Expectations will make the challenge harder. But with a new team, there's some cushioning. People believe this is a team of youngsters, and with that comes a longer rope. If you expect them to win every time, you're not being realistic. The pressure is still there--but it's different from the pressure an experienced team faces, where the only expectation is to win," he added.
India squad for five Tests in England: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.