Former India captain Sourav Ganguly advised the squad against utilizing star Jasprit Bumrah and encouraged them to control his workload during the high-voltage five-match Test series against England.
Gujarat pacer bore the maximum responsibility in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, in which he managed to bag 32 wickets at an average of 13.06 in 151.2 overs. He was named Player of the Series, but workload took its toll and he injured his back before the last Test of the series in Sydney, missing the 2025 Champions Trophy tournament as a result.
Ganguly, the president of the BCCI from 2019 to 2022, recommended that Shubman Gill, the new Test captain, should not use Bumrah for more than 12 or 13 overs in a single day.
“You’ve got to look after him and not make him bowl more than 12 or 13 overs,” Ganguly mentioned as quoted by RevSportz.
Ganguly said that the management of the Indian squad should consider using workhorse options like Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, who has not yet made his Test cricket debut, rather than overworking Bumrah.
“I believe four fast bowlers are essential. In this setup, others will have to be the workhorses — like Siraj, Arshdeep.”
Sourav Ganguly
Siraj will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility in Mohammed Shami’s absence, particularly if Bumrah must skip a test or two in order to manage his workload. Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been selected as seam-bowling all-rounders, while Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are the other front-line pacers in the lineup.
The 18-man squad includes only one specialist tweaker in Kuldeep Yadav with Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja as spin-bowling all-rounders.
The opening Test will start on Friday, June 20, at Headingley, Leeds. India will then start their 2025-2027 World Test Championship (WTC) campaign by playing a four-day warm-up match at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham between June 13 and June 16, followed by which they will travel to Leeds.
