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Key Points

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate explained the careful management of Jasprit Bumrah’s workload during the England Test series. The team honored Bumrah’s request to play only three matches, prioritizing his long-term fitness. Strategic decisions were made based on pitch conditions and future planning, not just immediate needs. Despite fan confusion, the coaching staff emphasized trust in their workload management approach.

Key Points: India Coach Explains Bumrah's Limited Role in England Test Series

  • Bumrah played just 3 Tests to manage workload despite being No.1 ranked
  • Team prioritized long-term fitness over short-term gains
  • Assistant coach denies Bumrah was "picking and choosing" games
  • England series management involved strategic rest decisions
3 min read

We want to wheel Bumrah in, but also want to respect where his body's at: India Assistant coach 

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate reveals why Jasprit Bumrah played only 3 of 5 Tests against England, prioritizing long-term fitness.

"It's quite a complex issue around Bumrah. We want to wheel him in, but also respect where his body's at. – Ryan ten Doeschate"

London, Aug 1

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said the team management felt "it was right to honour Bumrah's call to play just three games" of the five-match series against England, suggesting the long-term future of the No.1 ranked Test bowler was more important than a single Test match.

Bumrah completed his scheduled workload of playing in just three Tests across the series during the recent contest in Manchester and the team decided to take no risks with the star pacer for the fifth and final Test in London.

"It's quite a complex issue around Bumrah. We obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body's at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn't worth including him in the squad," ten Doeschate told reporters after end of Day 1 play.

He has bowled a large number of overs, I know it doesn't always seem like that because he's only played three Tests and he only bowled in one innings in Manchester. But if you look at the loads, he's bowled a lot of overs, and like he did say coming into the tour, he was going to be available for three games, and we just felt it was right to honour that call,' he added.

Ten Doeschate said there was no exact science to consider when choosing which matches the fast bowler would sit out across the five-game series.

"Every time I've answered this question I've spoken about like putting the pieces of the puzzles together and guys were baffled when we didn't play him in the third Test, and our thinking yeah was that The Oval, yes it's got bounce but it's normally a fairly good wicket for batting on, and we thought we'd roll the dice and if we'd won the toss we would have bowled.

"In hindsight you would have loved to have him here, but you would also have said if we come here 3-1 down that we didn't use him there, so it's trying to not guess but trying to look into the future and then see how we can manage him, and maybe England have got it spot on leaving the best bowling wicket for the last Test after he's played three," the assistant coach said.

The assistant coach also said it wasn’t fair to say that Bumrah was picking and choosing games, considering his injury-prone past and back surgeries.

"I don’t think picking and choosing is a fair comment to Bumrah, he did say he was going to play three games, he left it up to us which three he played, we’ve tried to manage the situation, it’s not ideal, I guess giving those guys attention, the guys who aren’t playing particularly when you’re carrying 18 is important,” he said.

"Make them know that you’re making all the decisions in good faith, in the best interest of the team, and just on that, all the guys who haven’t played, they’ve been fantastic, they’ve trained the house down, they’re disappointed when they get left out," he added.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

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Shreya B
But why couldn't they plan better? We lost the series because of these rotation policies. Other teams manage their pacers without compromising on results. Bumrah should have played at The Oval where conditions suited him.
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Aryan P
As someone who's had back issues, I completely understand. Fast bowling is brutal on the body. Bumrah has given us so much already - let's not burn him out like we did with Zaheer Khan in the past.
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Priyanka N
The real issue is lack of bench strength. Where are our other world-class pacers? We can't keep depending on just Bumrah. Time to groom the next generation properly! #InvestInFastBowling
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Kiran H
Respect to the coaching staff for being transparent about this. In the past, we'd get vague "niggles" as excuses. At least now we know it's proper workload management. More teams should follow this approach!
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Varun X
The way Bumrah bowls with that unique action, his body takes extra stress. Remember what happened to Shane Bond? We're lucky to have such a gem - let's protect him at all costs. Trophy will come, but once a bowler is broken, he's gone forever.

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