'Don't Push Him Towards Retirement': Ex-India Star Drops 'Jasprit Bumrah' Bombshell

Former Indian cricket team batter Aakash Chopra believes that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah should be allowed to pick and choose his matches in the future. Bumrah faced a lot of criticism after not playing all the games in the five-match Test series against England in order to manage his workload. He played three matches and with India trailing 1-2, he was rested for the final game. During his analysis on YouTube, Chopra opined that he believes Bumrah should not play all matches in order to maintain his fitness and added that his future in the format is neither a moral nor an ethical debate.

"I was also reading Sanjay Manjrekar's piece. In the Hindustan Times, he wrote that the team shouldn't adjust for Bumrah and, instead, Bumrah should adjust for the team. I know there are plenty of opinions as to what should be done. I will be honest, I don't think he will play all Test matches," Chopra said.

"He is going to pick and choose. Whether it's right or wrong, it's not a moral or ethical debate, is what I think. If you have a player of that level available, play him whenever he can," he added.

Chopra also said that Bumrah's 'pick and choose' policy could have been a problem if he was a batter and urged everyone to not push him towards early retirement.

"Jasprit Bumrah, as a bowler, you can adjust the bowling combination very easily. It doesn't make a difference. If Bumrah had been a batter, a No. 4 or an opener, and had said that he would play two matches and won't play after that, then it's a problem. Bowlers need to be rotated in any case in a series of three or four Tests," he said.

"There is no bowler like Bumrah. Don't push him forcibly towards early retirement because he is 24-carat pure gold. He is the Kohinoor diamond. The longer he plays, the better it is. I don't think he will play too much Test cricket, but for however long he plays, I would say hold onto it. That's just my feeling." 

Topics mentioned in this article

Jasprit Bumrah Aakash Chopra India Cricket Team Cricket