"They are trying to cook Bumrah" - Simon Doull points to how 2024-25 BGT schedule negates ace pacer's threat

Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull feels Australia have scheduled the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy to negate India's ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah's threat in the series' back half. The five-Test series between the arch-rivals starts at the fast and bouncy Perth Stadium on November 22.

The teams will play the next two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane, with the former being a Day-Night affair. The Pink ball Test in Adelaide is usually a pacers' paradise and Brisbane has also historically been pace-dominated like Perth.

Speaking on JioCinema after the India-New Zealand Test series, Doull opined that Australia have scheduled three consecutive matches where pacers will dominate to increase Bumrah's workload and eventually tire him out.

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"What Australia have done smartly is scheduling. They know that while batters are going to be key in some shape or form, but their biggest threat is Jasprit Bumrah. So they have gone with the three hardest and fastest surfaces, plus the Pink-Ball Test. They are trying to cook Bumrah," he said.

Doull added:

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"They will cook him in the heat of Perth, where he will have to bowl a lot of overs. Then he is going to have to go and bowl a lot of overs in that second pink-ball Test match in Adelaide. And then you've got to go to Brisbane where generally, first up, the seamers are quite good as well."

Team India will be without veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for the Australia series, potentially increasing Bumrah's workload.

The final two Tests will be played on relatively flatter and less pace-friendly tracks in Melbourne and Sydney.

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"Then they're going to have to make a change" - Simon Doull on Jasprit Bumrah

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Siraj could play a major role in the backend of the Australia series [Credit: Getty]

Simon Doull remarked that Jasprit Bumrah could bowl so many overs in the first three Tests on seamer-friendly tracks that India would be forced to rest him for one of the final two matches.

The 30-year-old played the first two Tests in the recently concluded home series against New Zealand before sitting out the final match.

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"So we're going to cook Bumrah in the first two, three Test matches, make sure he bowls a lot of overs. And then they're going to have to make a change. They're going to have to go to someone else. So I think the scheduling from Australia's point of view has been quite smart because very rarely do they start a series in Perth," said Doull in the same interview.

Bumrah boasts an outstanding record in Tests Down Under, with 32 wickets in seven games at an average of 21.25.

He played a massive role in India's back-to-back series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

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