Off The Field

WTC Final: Selectors picked Jasprit Bumrah because of his reputation instead of current form, says Saba Karim

Written by Rohit Pawar

Former India wicketkeeper and national selector Saba Karim feels that the selectors only picked Jasprit Bumrah because of his reputation instead of his current form in the World Test Championship Final (WTC) against New Zealand.

New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets in the final at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. India’s spearhead Jasprit Bumrah went wicketless in both the innings against New Zealand and the pacers’ conditions.

“I feel the selectors did not pay attention to the current form and went on with reputation to a certain extent. Jasprit Bumrah has not played red-ball cricket since he got injured in Australia,” Karim told India News.

“He has only played white-ball cricket and that too only the T20s. He did not play in the home series against England. I felt he was woefully out of form and along with that out of practice if we talk about red-ball cricket,” added Bumrah.

However, Karim is wrong in his assessment about Bumrah not playing red-ball cricket after the Australia series. Bumrah played the first Test against England in Chennai during India’s home series and picked up four wickets in the match.

However, Karim felt that Bumrah was getting his groove back in the second innings when he had a catch dropped off his bowling.

“To a certain extent, I felt he was getting back his rhythm in the second innings spell he bowled; he was also unlucky at times. But in the end, he couldn’t catch the length that is required in red-ball cricket, especially in conducive conditions, in the entire Test match. I feel this is a very big area of concern and it is required to rectify this in the upcoming series,” said Karim.

About the author

Rohit Pawar

An Independent I.T. Security Expert, Geek, Blogger & Passionate Programmer.