After seeing his minutes managed through the tour of England, which saw Jasprit Bumrah play only three of the five matches in that series, Jasprit Bumrah was something of a surprise inclusion for the Asia Cup this month in the UAE. While Jasprit Bumrah is undoubtedly one of the best players in the history of the T20 format, India’s depth meant that they still had other options to rely on.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah is currently regarded as one of the best pacers in the world, but the 31-year-old has had his fair share of injuries in the last year or so. Jasprit Bumrah had to sit out of the last few days of the fifth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia due to a back injury, which also saw him miss the Champions Trophy 2025.
The pacer Jasprit Bumrah was also only available for three matches during the England tour, with the team management not opting to overburden the pacer even when the series was on the line in the final match.
However, India’s depth combined with Jasprit Bumrah’s mercurial ability in big matches could prove to be a blessing in disguise, according to another man who understands the T20 format inside out in AB de Villiers. Speaking on his Youtube channel, the South African legend predicted that Jasprit Bumrah would be used as a horses-for-courses option against the stronger teams in the competition.
AB De Villiers believes that Jasprit Bumrah’s wordload will be managed in Asia Cup 2025
Former South Africa captain and batting great AB de Villiers believes that Jasprit Bumrah won’t play all of India’s games at the 2025 Asia Cup. He supported such a decision, too, saying good selectors understand the workload needs of some elite players and help get the best out of them as well.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not confirmed this theory. However, they rested Jasprit Bumrah for two of the five Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. Although the Asia Cup is in T20 format and Jasprit Bumrah won’t feel any excessive workload in bowling four overs in each match, it might make sense to rest him in group-stage games against Oman and UAE, where Harshit Rana can join Arshdeep Singh.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers predicted that Jasprit Bumrah would be used selectively in the tournament and could only be reserved for the stronger teams.Speaking about the selection of Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, de Villiers said :
“Great to see him in the squad, fit and ready to go. I don’t think he will play all the games. I saw reports saying he will be earmarked for the games that matter and I love that about the selectors being proactive.”
“That’s how you should be managing your senior and most impactful players,” the former batter added.
“It’s not like they are picking and choosing. So much cricket these days that for your older guys, over age 30, their work has taken its toll over the years,” he added.
“Some selectors understand it and some don’t. And once you start managing these players, you will get the best out of them and I love it that they’ve started doing that with Jasprit Bumrah,” the Proteas further stated.
India have been placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, UAE, and Oman, and will begin their campaign against the UAE on September 10. Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong.
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