new delhi: Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah may have drawn criticism for playing only three Tests during the series against England to manage his workload, but former BCCI chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma has backed the bowler, saying players should go by the physios’ advice as they are the “better judges”.
The injury-prone Bumrah played the first, third and fourth Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar five-match series, skipping two matches with Mohammed Siraj leading the pace-bowling attack.
Sharma, himself a former pace bowler, said it was akin to a patient having to follow the doctor’s advice.
“If the medical team advises, if the doctor tells me that I have to take antibiotics, then I have to consume them. If our physios is telling a player to manage workload, I think we should listen to them because they are the better judges,” said Sharma on the sidelines of the country’s public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati signing a deal with London-based cricket analytics company CricViz on Monday for the telecast of 104 episodes of “The Great Indian Cricket Show” on Doordarshan.
Sharma, who forged a potent partnership with Kapil Dev for nearly half-a-decade and went on to take more than 125 wickets in Tests and ODIs before becoming the chairman of selectors, added that the team’s performance in the England Test series gave him confidence that it will win the Asia Cup, which begins in the UAE next month.
“I know that whoever is selected will be the best for the country. And the kind of cricket we are playing right now, I’m really proud with the way India played in England. And I’m very confident that we are definitely going to win the Asia Cup (to be played in T20 format) because soon after that we are playing the T20 World Cup (in 2026) in India. It’s a very big thing when you are playing (the World Cup) in you own
backyard,” he said.