As the Indian cricket team stares at a whitewash against New Zealand, having already lost 2 matches of the series, captain Rohit Sharma has been sent a bold message to eave out Jasprit Bumrah. Arguably the finest pace bowler in the country, Bumrah hasn’t been effective as much as the team would’ve liked him to be on spin-friendly pitches against New Zealand. Ahead of the third Test in Wankhede, Dinesh Karthik has told the Indian team management to give Bumrah a rest ahead of the Australia tour.
“Jasprit Bumrah definitely needs a rest without a doubt. That is happening, and you will see Mohammed Siraj come in. I can’t think of any other change unless someone has a niggle. I don’t see any reason why the batters who played this game or the bowlers should not get an opportunity,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
Washington Sundar was the top performer with the ball for India in the Pune Test that was primarily dominated by spinners. Yet, India failed to pull themselves level with a win, suffering a second straight loss to go 0-2 down in the series.
While a knee jerk reaction isn’t expected from the Indain team ahead of the must-win Test in Wankhede, keeping the World Test Championship in mind, some changes are expected to be made with the XI.
Karthik doesn’t think many changes would be made in India’s batting unit despite the woeful show in the first two matches. But, Mohammed Siraj replacing Jasprit Bumrha is a change that the former India wicket-keeper batter does see taking place.
“The loss and the disappointment of the defeat are still weighing very heavily on my mind. I am not able to think very clearly about what the XI will be. It’s too short a notice to be honest. But if I had to think straight away, I would say rest Bumrah and bring back Siraj,” Karthik added.