Delhi: Regarding Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, former all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and South Africa’s legendary batsman AB de Villiers have advised him to play mostly white-ball cricket and take part only in important Test matches. Bumrah has been rested from the three-match ODI series against South Africa. The team management is constantly managing his workload so that he remains fit for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Bumrah got advice to play less tests

Ashwin said in a YouTube conversation with AB de Villiers that Bumrah should avoid playing meaningless series and should play Tests only when necessary. He said, “If I was close to him, I would have told him to focus only on white-ball cricket. Don’t enter Tests unless India really needs it. He likes this format very much, but it is better for both India and Bumrah to focus more on T20 cricket. Don’t waste energy in meaningless ODIs. Play only those Tests which are needed a lot, especially away ones.”

Bumrah has been playing cricket continuously in the last few months, which includes the Asia Cup, Test series in West Indies and South Africa and five T20 matches against Australia. The team management is taking great care of the fitness of 31 year old Bumrah because he is considered to be India’s biggest match winner.

Ashwin described Bumrah as a “special asset” of Indian cricket and said that his bowling action is very unique, which has a lot of impact on the body. According to Ashwin, it would be better for the team to play Bumrah wisely instead of playing too much.

De Villiers supported Ashwin

AB de Villiers also supported Ashwin and went a step further and said, “If it were me, I would have given him rest from the Tests in Asia and home grounds. I would have given him Tests only in places like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. It is very important to keep Bumrah fresh because white-ball tournaments are the most important for India.”

Bumrah recently played two test matches against South Africa, in which he took a total of eight wickets. In the first test he performed brilliantly with 5/27. Now he will again take the field in the five-match T20 series starting from December 9 in Cuttack.