Leadership duties in T20Is against Ireland will help Bumrah understand his body better: Saba Karim

NEW DELHI: 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 Bum-rah 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 Mala-hide, 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 lead-ership 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 conten-tion 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 manage-ment 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. IANS

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