Srinagar: Former India opener Aakash Chopra has said that for the star pacer Jasprit Bumrah or any other Team India star Country comes first.
Jasprit Bumrah who is recovering from a back injury was left out of the squad as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named an unchanged Indian squad for the 3rd and 4th Tests against Pat Cummins’ Australia on Sunday.
Talking about the star pacer on his YouTube channel, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra said that Bumrah is yet to receive a clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
“Jasprit Bumrah has still not got the clearance from the NCA. He will not be playing the two Test matches, he will not play the ODIs as well. Even if he was available for the Test matches here and had played as well, what would he have done? I wouldn’t have played him here in any case. I would ask him to rest as he is a national asset and we want him to be very, very careful. He has not played for a long time. If you become fit, I want you in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval,” Chopra said
Bumrah has remained on the sidelines since September 2022 and the star pacer also missed the T20 World Cup last year. Bumrah has played 30 Tests, 72 ODIs, and 60 T20Is for Team India.
“A lot of people are saying that he will play franchise cricket, but it has been decided that the workload will be managed this time by the BCCI. They will be in direct contact with the player and the physio. They will monitor your fitness and how much you can push and where you need to stop. I am pretty sure no franchise would say that an Indian player should not be available for India but should be for them. Country comes first – whether it is the Mumbai Indians or the Chennai Super Kings,” Chopra added