"You don't know who his replacement is" - Ajit Agarkar on India not finding Bumrah's backup despite a lot of experimentation

Ajit Agarkar has highlighted that Team India have been unable to find a viable replacement for Jasprit Bumrah despite trying out a plethora of bowlers.

Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to a back injury. The Gujarat pacer is not part of the Indian squad for the ongoing three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, where they have already lost the first two games.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Agarkar cited Bumrah's example to point out that India's experiments are not yielding the desired results, saying:

"There is an example, Jasprit Bumrah went out, he is your mainstay, you get him when the big matches come. Despite so much rotation and so many changes, you don't know who his replacement is."

The former Indian pacer feels players are not being given sufficient chances to stake their claim, explaining:

"If that does not happen, there is some problem because injuries can happen to your main players going ahead as well. So if you are saying that you want to rotate and try out or rest players, the next which should be ready is not happening because everyone is playing two-three matches apiece."

Reflecting on India's defeats against Bangladesh, Agarkar pointed out that they lost games from winning positions, observing:

"There are quite a few players who have played only one match. After one match, you cannot come to know who can do well long-term at the international level. It is not a bad team, so you get slightly disappointed. The way they have played, when both matches were in your hand, good teams normally finish matches."

Walking in at 69/6 and coming back with an unbeaten century!

A record day for Mehidy Hasan 👉 bit.ly/3W22aiY https://t.co/16uibaAl5W

India allowed Bangladesh's last-wicket pair to string together an unbroken 51-run partnership in the first game to lose the match by a solitary wicket. They again frittered away their advantage in the second ODI, with the hosts setting a 272-run target after being reduced to 69/6 at one stage.

"They will be disappointed with that" - Ajit Agarkar on India allowing Bangladesh to stage a comeback

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah's partnership helped Bangladesh win the second ODI. [P/C: Bangladesh Cricket]

Agarkar added that Rohit Sharma and Co. will be disappointed with their performances, reasoning:

"I agree that the opposition team has also come to play and there will be a fightback sometime or the other, it won't be that easy, but both matches of this series were in India's hands and both times they have allowed Bangladesh to stage a comeback. They will be disappointed with that."

Agarkar concluded by reiterating that the selectors cannot be too trigger-happy, elaborating:

"That is why you need stability in team selections or the squad. You shouldn't do too many changes, there is no problem if you make changes due to injury or lack of form, but using too many players is not required at the moment because players also need to get into a rhythm, whether it is 50-over cricket or T20."

Cannot remember The last time India played a full strength team in limited overs cricket.
The selection for odi and t20 is in shambles. Focus is more on politics then merit. Need to get rid of the arrogance if we are serious about the next World Cup. #BCCI #TeamIndia

The likes of Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were rested after the T20 World Cup for the limited-overs series against New Zealand. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have been given a break from the ongoing ODIs against Bangladesh.