Indian coach Ravi Shastri talks about Bumrah's injury and the quality of Rohit Sharma
The Indian Cricket Team coach Ravi Shastri reciprocated his concerns about the stress fracture in the lower back of paceman Jasprit Bumrah. Talking to The Hindu in an interview, the Indian coach expressed the seriousness of Bumrah’s injury and how his workload should be handled by the team management.
“Very concerned. Because he is precious, special, different, and a match-winner. They are taking opinions on whether he needs surgery. We have to be careful about his workload because he plays all three formats,”
Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the T20 series against South Africa, had a long season that included IPL 2019, World Cup in England and Wales and the tour of West Indies. Bumrah is scheduled to go rehabilitation and recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Bumrah has represented India 12 times in Test cricket, taking 62 wickets at an astonishing average of 19.24.
“I would hate to see a player of his quality sitting in the reserves. In the West Indies, I was very clear that he should open and had a chat with Kohli about it. This was his opportunity…. Opening the batting is about the mindset. You got to respect the new ball. A lot of guys in India should have opened in the last 20 years for the sake of team balance, but they didn’t have the stomach for it….Who would have thought Virender Sehwag would average nearly 50 in Tests. But he conquered those first 20 minutes against the new ball. I don’t think any other opener actually enjoyed opening as he did, Shastri said.”
Ravi Shastri further commented on the brilliance of opener Rohit Sharma and his stupendous performance in the first Test against South Africa. Rohit scored a hundred in each innings and walked away with the player of the match award. Shastri compared Rohit’s attacking blitz to that of Virender Sehwag, who surprisingly averaged above 50 in Test cricket. According to the expertise of the Indian coach, opening the batting is all about mindset and wisely selecting the shots when the ball is new.
Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli rate Test cricket highly and realize that the attacking duo of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah can change the course of the match in a single session of play.
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