Ravi Shastri has slammed the Indian team management for their decision to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the Edgbaston Test after having a week off from action. The Indian team made a host of changes for the match with Bumrah being the big name missing. The plan was always going to make Bumrah play three Tests and India coach Gautam Gambhir had said that it won’t be altered despite the loss at Headingley.
However, Shastri wasn’t in favour of resting Bumrah for the match, which he feels is important in the context of the series. Speaking to Sky Sports, the former India coach said he finds it hard to believe that the ‘best in the world’ Bumrah has been rested for the game.
“If you look at the run India has had, this becomes a very, very important Test match. You’ve lost 3 against New Zealand, you’ve lost 3 against Australia, you’ve lost the first test match here, and you want to get back to winning ways, and you have the best fast bowler in the side in the world, and you make him sit out after 7 days of rest, you know, it’s something very hard to believe,” said Shastri.
Shastri said that the decision to rest must be taken out of the player’s hand and the captain and coaching staff should make the call. Shastri feels that India need to counter-punch immediately and almost straight away.
“They’ve had a week off. I’m a little surprised that Bumrah is not playing this game. I think it should be taken out of the player’s hand. It should be the captain and the coaching staff that should decide who should be playing, and if this is an important game in the context of the series, he should be playing this game more than anything else. Lords can come later. You know this is the important game where you’ve got to counter punch almost straight away,” said Shastri.
