Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has said that fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is a Kohinoor diamond for the national team, adding that being given charge of the captaincy will increase his risk of getting injured. Earlier, in 2022, when regular skipper Rohit Sharma was out due to an infection from COVID-19, Bumrah had led India as stand-in captain in the rescheduled fifth Test against England, which took place at Edgbaston.
He also led India to a 2-0 series victory during a three-match T20I series against Ireland last June, where he made a comeback after a serious back injury that had kept him out of action for 11 months.
"Bumrah is calm, cool, and has good maturity. But him being a fast bowler, how we can play him in all three formats? That is the biggest question selectors would have had. Like in Bumrah's case, being a quick bowler, his fitness needs to be checked, and he needs to be protected as a player and only made to play in important matches."
He is like a Kohinoor diamond, jewel, or crown in World Cricket. We need to protect, care, and make sure he lasts as long as possible, because anytime Bumrah plays in any format, he'll go out and make an impact, which is what we are looking for. You don't burden him with captaincy; if he plays a lot of series and injures himself, it becomes a massive problem.
Bumrah was being nursed by the Indian team after a long rest following his Player of the Tournament award in the Men's T20 World Cup win, where he had picked 15 scalps. He was also not included in the first round of games for the upcoming Duleep Trophy to be held in Bengaluru and Anantapur in September.
With India playing ten Test matches, including the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia later this year, Karthik feels the Duleep Trophy is vital to identify back-up seamers.
"Two skill sets will be very, very important in the Duleep Trophy: fast bowlers and middle-order batters. Let's get to fast-bowlers: Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, and then who would be that fourth and fifth medium-pacer because when you play a five-match Test series, you need a big battery of fast bowlers in Australia who are ready to play at any time."
"Shami, Siraj and Bumrah are locked in, but who will be the other three fast bowlers? Akash Deep, I can think of. People are talking of Mayank Yadav, but I am not sure if his body will last five days of playing cricket and he seems to be a bit injury-prone, which is similar to Khaleel Ahmed."
He also believes India are trying to unearth the next generation of off-spinners and fast-bowling all-rounders via the Duleep Trophy. "India are definitely looking for a next-gen off-spinner, as in last India 'A' series against England Lions, they tried three off-spinners in three matches: Pulkit Narang, Washington Sundar and Saransh Jain.
"They are trying out and Washington Sundar is the front-runner behind Ravichandran Ashwin right now. He's done well in whatever limited opportunities he's got and I feel he will get his due first before going to anybody else."
"Coming to fast-bowling all-rounders, we all know how hard it is to get these skills. It's very tough to find, not many in India. Nitish Kumar Reddy is solid and needs to grow as a cricketer. People will be looking at him and Shivam Dube has been in the white-ball format, but I'll be surprised if he will be kept for Test cricket."
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