India will need the services of Jasprit Bumrah in the potential World Test Championship final against Australia. India are leading Australia 2-0 in the ongoing BGT.
New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah should priotarise playing for the country and give few games a miss in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians if needed to be completely fit for international cricket, feels former India batter Aakash Chopra.
Bumrah has been out of action since last September due to a back injury and had missed the 2022 T20 World Cup. India also missed his services against Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia.
“You’re an Indian player first and then you play for your franchise. So, if Bumrah feels any discomfort, the BCCI will step in and tell the franchise that we are not going to release him. The world won’t end if he doesn’t play seven games with Jofra Archer,” Chopra was quoted as saying to Sportskeeda.
“At the same time, when you’re fit, you want to keep on playing as that only makes you better. So I definitely feel MI will pay heed to it if BCCI steps in because he is a national treasure and things aren’t as difficult to manage as they seem to be at the moment,” he added.
Recently, it was reported that Bumrah has been given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the National Cricket Academy and the cricket board would be monitoring his fitness progress in the IPL 2023.
Bumrah is said to have played in two practice games at the BCA facility in Bengaluru in the last two weeks but has not atained full fitness.
As things stand at the moment, the BCCI doesn’t want Bumrah to throw into international cricket straightaway and instead play a few T20 games before returning to the Indian dressing room.
With the World Test Championship final and ODI World Cup lined up in the year, the Indian cricket team will definitely need the services of the premier pacer.
