Since the beginning of the recent England tour, there has been a lot of talk about Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management. However, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealed in Dubai on Tuesday that the versatile pacer may simply be preparing for the next Test matches against the West Indies.
India will have four matches in seven days if they play the Asia Cup final on September 28. If Bumrah plays in all four, he will have bowled 23 overs during the competition.
According to Doeschate, it might be sufficient to have Bumrah ready for the red-ball series that begins in Ahmedabad on October 2.
Doeschate gave a negative response when asked if Bumrah may be rested in Super 4s.
“Look, there’s obviously a game tonight (Pakistan vs Sri Lanka) and our game tomorrow night and we’ll have a better understanding of how the table sits. But it’s very unlikely that you go into the last game knowing you’ve qualified. So, I’d say it’s unlikely that he’ll get a rest,” he clarified ahead of the match against Bangladesh.
Doeschate then gave detailed clues regarding the home series versus the West Indies.
“Also bearing in mind we have a Test match starting on Thursday. So, it’s actually quite good preparation in terms of workload management. He’s probably going to bowl a few overs in all the games and bowl in the region of 25-26 overs with the training and the preparation going into the game, which is a fairly good number the week before a Test,” the former KKR all-rounder said.
“So, if we have the luxury to have that option in the last game, we can look at it. But I’d say we’re going to pick our best team for every game. He obviously fits into that picture. But we feel it’s the right amount of work going into the Test match and obviously the importance of this competition as well,” he added.
Doeschate said that Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav are anticipated to bat at Nos. 3 and 4, meaning Sanju Samson, who appears clearly uneasy, would need to learn how to pace his innings at No. 5.
“Yeah, I think there’s two outings now, two decent chances and he’s still figuring out how to play that role. I think the wicket was a little bit tighter in the Pakistan game.”
In the Super 4s encounter against Pakistan, Samson scored a grueling 13 from 17 balls.
“But certainly with the way Shubman (Gill) and Abhi (Abhishek) are going at the top and you’ve got your captain batting at three and the way Tilak played (vs Pakistan), we’re really looking for a No. 5.
“So we believe Sanju is the best man for that job and we’ve got no doubt that he’ll figure out how to play that role in the future,” he noted.
