Sanjay Bangar, former India batting coach, stated that there is no time left to look for a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah in the national ODI side. India may have to get its wickets elsewhere for the next ODI series in England, probably from spinners in the middle overs.
Jasprit Bumrah has been injured since injuring his back in December last year. The assessment of the injury is still on, and there is no clarity onto whether he would recover for the main squad, which is likely soon after England-series, for the Champions Trophy on February 19, 2025. There was speculation that it could be a target for him in the third ODI against England, but on Tuesday, surprisingly, with the inclusion of Chakaravarthy, Bumrah’s name was absent.
“After Bumrah, the responsibility will fall, may be, on the spin department, with Kuldeep Yadav creating mayhem during the middle overs,” said Bangar on Star Sports. “For that matter, I also see what looks like Varun Chakravorthy has been added to the list. So, should Bumrah’s absence be the case, then they will want to push back the opposing sides through the middle overs, ensuring that within the last 10 they won’t really face situations wherein the team would rely on Bumrah. No other bowler could fill in for the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.”
While Chakravarthy has yet to make his debut, he has good List-A numbers and recently took 14 wickets for his side in a series of five T20 matches against England recently.
Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will come good in ODIs: Bangar
Bangar also had Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in mind, having returned to their favorite format after months of living through struggles in Test cricket. He said they will have more confidence due to their past success in ODIs, but their approach has to be reviewed before any conclusions on their future can be made.
“See, both these players will go down as the best white-ball players of all the eras. Whenever you write the list of all-time greats in ODIs, they make it to the list invariably. These things would create a lot of confidence in the way they would now attack”, said Bangar.
“Rohit’s approach at the top of the innings would be very interesting because he has had a run of low scores. A game or two will give us a clear insight into the approach they will take into the 50-over format. The assessment would need to be not only of the ODI series but also of the Champions Trophy. So, we will have a real shine on how these two players approach the sport,” he said.
