Chief selector Ajit Agarkar noted that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah may not feature in all five Test matches against England in the upcoming series. He also revealed the reason behind the team management picking Karun Nair over Sarfaraz Khan.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah may not feature in all five Test matches against England, starting June 20. The 31-year-old led the Indian team in the absence of former captain Rohit Sharma, but for the England tour, he wasn’t picked as the leader of the pack. Shubman Gill instead has been given the captaincy baton, while Rishabh Pant has been named his deputy.
A major reason behind not appointing Bumrah is his workload management. The team management and the selection committee understand the concerns Bumrah carries and don’t want to risk him by playing all the Test matches. It is for the same reason, Arshdeep Singh has been named in the 18-member squad. Agarkar explained that in case Bumrah misses out, the left-arm seamer can add variety.
“He’s a quality bowler and has had a taste of county as well. he plays domestic when he can. A tall guy, can bowl with the new ball, has body of work in red-ball cricket and in recent form in the last couple of years. Bumrah unlikely to play all five Tests, we needed a bit of variety,” Agarkar said in the press conference.
Agarkar also explained the reason behind picking Karun Nair over Sarfaraz Khan, who scored a century on his Test debut. The former India cricketer mentioned that in the absence of Virat Kohli, the team management wanted some experience in the middle order and given Karun’s form in recent times, they preferred the Jodhpur-born over Sarfaraz, who hasn’t excelled in the format after his debut.
“Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test and then didn’t get runs. Sometimes it’s decisions the team management takes. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we’re lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help,” Agarkar said.
