IND v AUS 2020: 'I am worried about Jasprit Bumrah' - Kiran More advises India to rest and rotate bowlers against Australia
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Kiran More has opined that India should use Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami assiduously against Australia. He suggested that India should rotate and rest one of them while playing one of the young fast bowlers in their place.
According to Kiran More, India should preserve their best bowlers for the Test matches even if it means losing some white-ball games.
India will begin the tour with 3 ODI matches, which will kickstart tomorrow at Sydney. The long tour will also include a 3-match T20 series and 4 Test matches in December.
Bumrah and Shami, being India's X-factors in recent years, are expected to play most of these games even though India has brought a glut of fast bowlers in the squad.
Kiran More told Times of India:
"The only thing I am worried about is Bumrah. He is going to play one-dayers, T20s and Test matches. I think I will look at resting Bumrah, and also Shami. Preserve more for Test cricket."
"I will prefer to give rest to them in some of the matches, depending on the situation in the series, doesn't matter if I lose also...Go with one guy in one T20 with two young fast bowlers, even (in) one-day cricket. I will not go with both of them, need to rest one of them all the time. Play two matches, give rest, then play two matches."
In 2018 against Australia, Shami was excluded from the T20I squad while Bumrah was rested for the ODIs.
India has flown with them pacers like Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, T Natrajan and also reserve bowlers in Ishan Porel and Kartik Tyagi. Most of these players do not have much experience, and Kiran More believes they should be given that experience against Australia.
Kiran More is content with KL Rahul's wicketkeeping skills
Kiran More, who played 49 Tests and 94 ODIs for India, also talked about KL Rahul, who is expected to manage the wicketkeeping duties in the white-ball series. He said:
"He is a better wicketkeeper than a fielder for me. Plus, if we play him as a wicketkeeper-batsman, we can include an additional batsman or bowler. In one-day cricket, it could be a little bit tougher for KL Rahul, but I think he has managed it very well (in T20s). He has a fantastic technique as a wicketkeeper. He was a wicketkeeper when he started his cricketing career."
He concluded:
"Rahul has got pretty good hands. So we should not be worried about that."