After the packed schedule and conclusion of the ongoing ODI series in England, the Indian cricket team is ready to take on the West Indies in a five-match T20I series and three-match ODI series in the Caribbean.
Due to the pandemic, the cricket world came to a halt for some time due to lockdown but ever since it resumed the Indian cricket team has been playing non-stop across all formats. As the workload has been immense, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came up with a policy to counter the workload as the T20 World Cup 2022 is just around the corner.
The resting policy of BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to closely monitor the performance of the best players and provide them with proper rest to rejuvenate and keep them in the best shape for the upcoming crucial matches.
Some former cricketers couldn’t take the rest policy in a positive way. They even went on to slam the Indian board for not bringing the best players in the country to international matches and permitting them to play in the Indian Premier League (a franchise-based tournament).
BCCI gave a break to some of the senior players recently, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant from the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies. Others will assumably return for the T20I leg of the tour.
If we talk about Rohit, who was India’s all-format captain earlier this year, has played merely four matches since the end of the 15th edition of the IPL, though he is expected to play more. Sharma has been offered rest from the ODIs against the West Indies.
Kohli skipped the home series against South Africa after IPL and is supposed to play one Test, two T20Is, and, if he gets into form, two ODIs before getting another break.
Kitna rest loge 😭😭 @ImRo45 @viratkohli pic.twitter.com/5DRbRBa9WO
— Captain Rohit (@hitman450708) July 6, 2022
Sunil Gavaskar bashed BCCI for resting players
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed BCCI for not giving enough importance to international cricket and resting players repeatedly. He told Sports Tak:
“See I do not agree with this concept of players resting. Not at all. You don’t take rest during IPL, then why ask for it while playing for India? I don’t agree with it. You will have to play for India. Don’t talk about rest. There are only 20 overs in an innings in T20. That does not take any toll on your body. In Test matches, the mind and the body take a toll, I get that. But I don’t think there is much problem in T20 cricket,”
Exclusive: Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at players asking for rest, says ‘You won’t score runs sitting at home’@vikrantgupta73 https://t.co/AasfcTzF1G#INDvsENG #TeamIndia #ViratKohli #RohitSharma #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/KuanUySXY7
— Sports Tak (@sports_tak) July 11, 2022
Jasprit Bumrah’s fitting reply to Gavaskar
Responding respectfully to the argument of Sunil Gavaskar, India’s spectacular pacer Jasprit Bumrah gave a fitting reply to the legendary cricketer. Jasprit Bumrah led the team to a 10-wicket win with a brilliant 6 for 19 effort in the first ODI against England at the Oval.
The Oval pitch has great bounce but Indian bowlers bowled the right lengths & that made all the difference.
A great bowling performance by India’s pace attack especially Bumrah who was just phenomenal. pic.twitter.com/7Y3I6pbIRF
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 12, 2022
The pacer explained that the workload takes a toll on the body so it needs rest to recover. Within a span of a week, Bumrah has played a Test match, a T20I, and now an ODI match. During the post-match press conference after the 1st ODI he said:
“You need to remain fresh and you need to take care of your body. At times, you have to sleep even for 9 or 10 hours than usual 8 hours of sleep. Recovery is very important as fast bowling is a strenuous job and takes its toll on the body. But this aspect of cricket is something that everyone who is playing professional cricket needs to accept,”
He also added,
“No complaints as we are professional cricketers, who had dreamt of playing for India. So we have to put our best foot forward, there is travelling involved and the challenge is to remain fresh and control the controllables,” “I respect opinions but don’t take them seriously”
Number 1 ranked ODI bowler.
Number 3 ranked Test bowler.
Ruling T20 format when he plays in International and IPL.The best all-format bowler in world cricket – Jasprit Bumrah. pic.twitter.com/0h5nMxT8wu
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 13, 2022
Recently the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma too had slammed the opinion of a legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, saying that the experts are not aware of the actual situation and it is not right to give opinions without comprehending the context.
Do you agree with Jasprit Bumrah‘s opinion? Let us know in the comments.
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