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BCCI Frustated As End Of 'Pick And Choose' Culture For Bumrah Seems Inevitable: Report

Arnav Chopra

Gautam Gambhir and Jasprit Bumrah (Source: @BCCI/X.com)Gautam Gambhir and Jasprit Bumrah (Source: @BCCI/X.com)

A series that turned out to be fortune-changing in the history of Indian cricket. The young Indian side drew 2-2 against England in the just concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. On the back of a spirited performance from the Indian pace attack, India claimed the fifth Test at the Oval by just six runs.

Management Wants Bumrah To Play All Crucial Games

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have always been against the star culture. In the recent past, former Indian stars Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin had to bid goodbye to Test cricket after Gambhir's "whip cracking," where WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) were not allowed on tour for a long time and many more prominent protocols that urged the former legends to retire from the game, all of a sudden.

The star culture prevalence has been quite prominent in Indian Cricket for a very long time, and the head coach now wants to end it completely. In the just-concluded India-England series, star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah only featured in three of the five Test matches, citing workload management, and, as clearly mentioned by the BCCI medical team, he was only allowed to play three of those games.

However, after the emergence of Mohammed Siraj, the hero of the series, who played in all five games and bowled more than 185 overs in the series across five Tests, Gambhir wants to change the notion. The management is now in favour of the star player, playing all important matches, according to a report by Press Trust of India (PTI).

A senior BCCI official, who, on the basis of anonymity, revealed all the details to the PTI and mentioned that the star culture won't be entertained in the near future, where the option of choosing, picking games would be eased out as the management, and the apex body wants players to participate in all the games, especially those centrally contracted, to ensure India has all the firepower in their armory.

"There have been discussions and the message will be sent across to the centrally contracted players, especially those who are all format regulars, that this culture of picking and choosing games won't be entertained in near future," a senior BCCI official told PTI.

However, when asked about workload management, the BCCI official refused to change the notion and said that workload needs to be taken care of, but it needs to be more objective, rather than completely devaluing the idea of playing important matches for the side.

"It doesn't mean that workload management will be thrown out of the window, but a more objective approach is expected in near future. Obviously, fast bowlers' workload needs to be managed but it can't be accepted that in the name of workload management, people will miss crucial matches," he concluded.

Sunil Gavaskar Not In Favour Of Workload Management

Apart from the anonymous BCCI official, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, while speaking to India Today, was completely not in favour of this workload management concept, which he believes shouldn't be applied to those playing senior cricket for India, as he referred to the Indian army and Rishabh Pant, who came back strong after breaking his foot.

"When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about cold? What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players. Playing cricket for India is an honour," Gavaskar said to India Today.

He then mentioned that playing for India is a very big thing, as demonstrated by Mohammed Siraj. Gavaskar went on to take Bumrah's case in question and said that he might not be featuring in the West Indies Test series if India plays in the Asia Cup, while there are chances that he will still play the two-match Test series against South Africa in November.

"Look if Bumrah plays in the Asia Cup and if India go the distance till September 28, he won't obviously play the West Indies Test series starting October 2. However, if there are no injuries, he will certainly play the two Tests against World champions South Africa in November," Gavaskar further mentioned.

Which, according to him, shouldn't be the case as he should be featuring in all Test matches for India because they are all a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle.