Ajinkya Rahane praises Jasprit Bumrah’s clear workload plan

Veteran Test batter Ajinkya Rahane on Friday praised Jasprit Bumrah for his rare honesty and courage in openly communicating his workload plan ahead of the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. 

Speaking to the YouTube podcast, Rahane highlighted that Bumrah’s transparency is uncommon in Indian cricket, where players often face dropping for a pick and choose approach.

Speaking in a recent YouTube podcast interview, Rahane commended Bumrah’s clear communication with the team management. 

“What I liked about the Bumrah situation was that he was pretty clear; he knew what he wanted to do before the series," he said.

"‘I’ll play the first one, I won’t play the second one, and then I’ll play the third’. Great clarity for a captain. It shows that he has the courage to tell the captain and management to be really clear,” Rahane said. 

Bumrah, currently the world’s number one Test bowler, informed the BCCI, captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir that he would play only three of the five Tests in England. 

Bumrah featured in the first, third and fourth Tests, delivering two sensational five-wicket hauls one at Headingley and another at Lord’s and finished the series with 14 wickets.

For the unversed, India defeated England by six runs in a thrilling contest at The Oval in the fifth and final Test, leveling the five-match series 2-2 last week.

On the fifth day of the match, England resumed their second innings at 339/6 while chasing a target of 374, with Jamie Smith unbeaten on two and Jamie Overton yet to score. They needed 35 runs for victory on the final day.

However, when play resumed on day five, Indian bowlers dominated, making the required 35 runs seem like a mountain to climb for England.

The crucial partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook also went in vain as the English side was bowled out for 367.

Brook played a spectacular knock of 111 runs off 98 balls, hitting two sixes and 14 fours, while Root added 105 from 152 deliveries with 12 boundaries.

Opening batter Ben Duckett also contributed 54, but apart from these innings, England’s batting lineup struggled as five players failed to reach double figures.

Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna starred with the ball for India, claiming five wickets each in the second innings.