IND vs BAN, First Test: India to prioritise pacer workload management, says Rohit Sharma

In the era of three-format and franchise cricket, India had rested Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for one Test apiece during the five-match series against England earlier this year.

With India scheduled to play 10 Test matches in the next four months, captain Rohit Sharma made no secret of the team management’s plan to rotate its pack of fast-bowlers ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, beginning at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here from Thursday.  

“You want your best players to play all the games, but that is not possible. There is so much cricket that happens. There is T20 cricket happening in the middle of the (two) Test series as well. You need to see what is best for the team and manage your bowlers around it,” he said.  

With workload management, particularly for the quicks, becoming the order of the day in the era of three-format and franchise cricket, India had rested Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for one Test apiece during the five-match series against England earlier this year. 

That had opened the doors for Mukesh Kumar and debutant Akash Deep in that series, and going forward, Rohit believes there is enough fast-bowling talent and depth to effectively fill in for the frontline bowlers.  

“We have got a lot of bowlers. We saw some exciting prospects in the Duleep Trophy. I am not too worried about the kind of bowlers who are waiting in the wings for us.”  

While managing workload is high on the management’s priority list, Rohit said it was a relief to not have too many players missing out due to injury.  

“When we played the last series in India (against England earlier this year), a lot of players were injured, unavailable, and missed because of various reasons. Right now, there are some injuries – a few guys are still at NCA (National Cricket Academy) – but we have got the majority of the squad here. It is good to have everyone, and it makes it easier to pick your best XI when everyone is available,” the skipper added.  

India had missed regulars Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami for the entirety of the five-match series, and lost KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to injury after the first Test, prompting the management to hand Test caps to five debutants.  

While that didn’t go too badly for India, with three – Akash, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel - of those five debutants being retained for the upcoming two-match series against Bangladesh, Rohit was firm in his assessment of Rahul and said that the team needed him to play all the matches.  

Cricket - Second Test - India v England - Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, India - February 3, 2024 India's Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas | Photo Credit: FRANCIS MASCARENHAS

“There are only a handful of people in world cricket who have had a very smooth ride... Everyone has an up-and-down career. The best thing is to understand yourself and what is expected from you. The kind of quality he [Rahul] has, everyone knows about him.

The messaging from our side to him was very simple. We wanted him to play all the games. It is our duty as well to bring the best out of him. Since he has come back, he got a hundred in South Africa, got an 80 [86] in that first Test in Hyderabad and then got injured, unfortunately.  

We hope he continues from where he left off in Hyderabad. He has the game to play both spin and the seamers. I don’t see any reason why he can’t flourish in Test cricket. After spending so many years in international cricket, it is for him also to understand how he wants to take his career forward,” Rohit opined.  

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz and Jurel ensured the host didn’t rue the absence of Kohli and Rahul and injected a sense of calm after the defeat in the first Test in Hyderabad.  

Rohit said the three were all-format candidates for the Indian team in the future and complemented each other with their different approach.  

“They have everything that is required to be a top player for India in all three formats... Jaiswal had a great series when we last played, Jurel showed what he is capable of with the bat, getting those runs under pressure in a tough situation. Sarfaraz was fearless and didn’t worry too much about what happened. You need all kinds of players in your squad these days. You need those who are fearless, cautious and responsible. We have that mix of everything,” Rohit explained.  

With India set to feature in its first Test in more than six months, Rohit said it was tough to adapt to the rigours of red-ball cricket but was happy with the camp in Chennai, where the team arrived on Thursday and has held four practice sessions since.  

The ICC trophy-drought may be over following the T20 World Cup win in June earlier this year, but Rohit is not resting on his laurels, especially with the World Test Championship title still missing from India’s cabinet.

“There is no way in my mind that we have won one trophy so now we can relax and sit back and enjoy... Every team wants to beat India.

Maze lene de unko. Our job is to ensure how to win. Even when England came here, they said a lot of things in press conferences. We never focused on that,” Rohit quipped.