Leadership Duties In T20Is Against Ireland Will Help Jasprit Bumrah Understand His Body Better: Saba Karim

ODI World Cup: On Friday, fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be the center of attention when he takes the field for India in the first T20I against Ireland after a long gap of 11 months.

Coming back after a back injury layoff which needed surgical intervention, many will be keen to see how Bumrah fares as a bowler from a fitness perspective, especially with the ODI World Cup less than 50 days away.

Apart from his return as the leader of the pace attack, Bumrah will also be captaining the Indian team at Malahide, making him the first bowler and overall, the 11th player to lead India in T20Is.

Saba Karim, the former India cricketer, who has served as a national selector, feels that being trusted with leadership duties will help Bumrah understand his body better and help him divide his bowling duties on his return to international cricket.

"In the T20I format, the leadership duties won't add more burden on him. I think it will help him understand his body better, which is the direction I am seeing it from. He would know how many spells he will bowl with the new ball and with India playing three T20 games, he can bowl in any phase of the game.

Maybe he can bowl one over in the start, then one over in the middle and a couple of overs in the back-end of the innings. He can do all of that as a captain. Instead of seeing as pressure, I feel it is an area where Bumrah can contribute and with his experience of playing for long, he can use it to understand his body better as a leader, which is the way I am looking at it," said Karim, an expert for JioCinema, in a select virtual interaction.

Asked if Bumrah being given captaincy duties is a sign of him being in the mix for white-ball leadership contention in future, Karim quashed those suggestions, citing that the Indian team management is keeping a close on the right-arm pacer's match fitness.

"Whatever I have heard from the NCA, he's been through match stimulations and has played a couple of matches in Bengaluru. So, all of that really augurs well for the Indian side. At this stage, India selectors are focusing on Jasprit Bumrah's match fitness and that's why he’s chosen in the squad.

Being the captain for this tour is because he's the senior-most member in the team and I don't think there's any thought right now than his current fitness levels. So for this series, the close look of Indian selectors and management will be on the fitness of Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna," he added.

The focus will also be on Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma, who have excited many cricket fans through their consistent showings with the bat in the last two seasons of the IPL.

Karim believes the series against Ireland is a wonderful platform for both Rinku and Jitesh to leave their mark at the international level.

"I am happy to see that the selectors have chosen players from the IPL, especially the ones who have done reasonably well in the last two seasons, which is why Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma have been brought into the side," he said.

This is a great opportunity for both youngsters, whenever they get a look into the playing eleven and perform to their potential. Such international tours help you grow not only as a cricketer, but as a person too. I am sure Jitesh Sharma and Rinku Singh will benefit from this kind of outing with the Indian side," he added.

Closer home, there is huge anticipation for India's squad in the Asia Cup, set to be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17, which will give an idea of the ODI World Cup squad.

Karim claimed that the squad could probably be announced on August 20, while adding that he sees Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav taking the spots of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer if the latter duo aren't declared fit on recovery from thigh and back injuries respectively.

"If these two players are not fit, then Ishan Kishan will be my preferred pick for Rahul’s replacement as he's someone who can open as well as play in middle-order. In place of Shreyas, you have three options in Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. Though Varma's name is being taken due to his superlative ODI performances, I would personally back Suryakumar Yadav," he said.

Varma, the young left-handed batter, was the leading run-scorer in his debut T20I series against the West Indies with 173 runs in five innings, averaging 57.67.

Karim pointed out that the five selectors will be having a glance at Varma's List A record of 25 games, where he averages 56.18 with five centuries and as many fifties, while hinting that the larger context has to be kept in mind while picking players on the basis of recent performances.

"Sometimes we tend to forget that players like Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have had played ODIs for their domestic sides. But when a player does well in T20Is, the selectors are bound to see his performances in 50-over games at the domestic level too. Here's the thing -- if a player does well in T20Is after putting up nice performances in IPL and is taken in the ODI team, that will not be fair in my opinion," he said.

"Whenever selectors pick any player, they do see his experience of playing 50-over matches in domestic cricket, apart from his T20I exploits. If he has that record, they do see how his performances have been.”

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Even if Tilak Varma is picked or not, the selectors will be surely seeing the record he has in playing 50-overs matches for Hyderabad or for zonal side in domestic cricket. But one should not go in that direction (of recency bias). We need to be extremely patient and have the larger picture in mind when the squad for 15 or 18 is picked for the Asia Cup," Karim concluded.