The out-of-favor India National Cricket Team batsman Ajinkya Rahane has jumped in pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s defence amid heavy criticism.
Ajinkya Rahane defended Jasprit Bumrah for skipping two Test matches on the England tour and lauded him for honestly informing the team about his situation, despite knowing that he could get dropped.
Jasprit Bumrah’s ‘pick-and-choose’ act leaves fans and experts angry
Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is arguably the best bowler in the world currently, and he possesses the ability to win matches for Team India single-handedly.
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He works very hard on his fitness, but being a pacer with unorthodox action to go with a heavy bowling workload, his body at times breaks down.
Despite suffering several injuries and going through multiple surgeries, Jasprit Bumrah has made himself available for all three formats for the India National Cricket Team.
This is where workload management becomes important, and ahead of the five-match Test series against England, Bumrah had communicated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he would only play three matches on the tour.
Overall, he bowled 119.4 overs and picked 14 wickets in three matches on the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Many felt that Bumrah could have pushed himself to play the fifth Test, but that didn’t happen, and some reports claimed that the BCCI is also unhappy with his ‘pick-and-choose’ act.
Sometimes players convey the same message to the team, and then they get dropped – Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane has come out in support of Jasprit Bumrah and praised his clarity as well as the team-first approach. While highlighting the consequences of conveying a message about the workload management to the team management, Rahane said that the pacer is quite courageous.
“What I liked about the Bumrah situation was that he was pretty clear; he knew what he wanted to do before the series. He said, ‘I’ll play the first one, I won’t play the second one, and then I’ll play the third’. Great clarity for a captain. It shows that he has the courage to tell the captain and management to be really clear,” said Rahane on his YouTube channel.
“It also shows that he is keeping the team ahead of himself. Sometimes it is not easy to do so when you are playing for India. As a player, when you are representing India, it’s not easy. Sometimes players convey the same message to the team, and then they get dropped,” he added.
There will be the odd player in a team that deserves the freedom – Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane further said that Jasprit Bumrah wanted India to be fully prepared to deal with his absence and advised the team management to use him in shorter spells, if they want to play him in all five Tests of a series.
“It just shows that he wanted the team to be well prepared even when he wasn’t playing. Because of his unique action, there is a lot of load on his body. If you want Bumrah to play all five Tests, then use him in smaller spells like 3 overs or 4 overs. I think England were wary of Bumrah when he was playing; ‘Bazball’ didn’t come out to the full extent. When Bumrah wasn’t there, they played a little freely,” he added.
Ajinkya Rahane also opined that Bumrah is a special player who needs to be given freedom and luxury to get the best out of him.
“Despite all the criticisms from the outside, there will be the odd player in a team that deserves the freedom and luxury to get the best out of him. It’ll also benefit the team in the long run,” said Rahane.
Also Read: Not Jasprit Bumrah! India need more players like Mohammed Siraj: Kapil Dev drops bombshell
