Former Indian cricketer and national selector; Saba Karim, Jasprit Bumrah was selected for World Test Championship final because of his reputation and not his form. Jasprit Bumrah was part of India’s World Test Championship final pace battery against New Zealand, which had three bowlers Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Jasprit Bumrah was unable to pick a wicket in the inaugural WTC final against New Zealand. The Blackcaps won the match easily by defeating India by 8 wickets. Bumrah not at all had a good match at Southampton, even after the swing in pitch in the first innings he was unable to get a breakthrough for India. Also in the second innings, he went wicketless.
However, he was very close to getting a wicket by slip fielder Cheteshwar Pujara dropped a catch.
Congratulations New Zealand on becoming the inaugural ICC Test Champions.
For India not scoring atleast 300 in the first innings and the form of Jasprit Bumrah were a big factor. #IndvNZ pic.twitter.com/QAROCc5pdU— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) June 23, 2021
“I feel the selectors did not pay attention to the current form and went on with reputation to a certain extent. Jasprit Bumrah has not played red-ball cricket since he got injured in Australia,” Karim told India News while speaking about India’s loss in the WTC final.
“He has only played white-ball cricket and that too only the T20s. He did not play in the home series against England. I felt he was woefully out of form and along with that out of practice if we talk about red-ball cricket,” the former selector added.
Jasprit Bumrah was part of the Test series against England at home and was able to pick as many as four wickets. However, after bowling very few overs in the third Test at Ahmedabad he went wicketless. This was the last match of Bumrah before he took a break from cricket for his marriage with Sports presenter Sanjana Ganesan.
"Jasprit Bumrah couldn't catch the length that is required in Red ball Cricket. I feel this is very big area of concern and it is required to rectify this in the upcoming series." – Saba Karim (To India news)
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) June 26, 2021
Jasprit Bumrah looked to find his rhythm in the second innings
However former selector Saba Karim felt that Bumrah was slowly and steadily getting back in rhythm in the second innings of the WTC final. However, a catch drop in his delivery by Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t help the cause.
Saba Karim also stated that pacer Bumrah has to deliver the spells with better line and length in the upcoming five-match Test series against England. Also, Karim hopes that Bumrah will not repeat the mistakes he did in the WTC final.
In his final spell Bumrah showed glimpses of form. With a little more red ball cricket behind him, he could be a force in the England tests. As could Ashwin and Shami who bowled beautifully throughout this test. But India's top order needs to be more consistent.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 23, 2021
“To a certain extent, I felt he was getting back his rhythm in the second innings spell he bowled; he was also unlucky at times. But in the end, he couldn’t catch the length that is required in red-ball cricket, especially in conducive conditions, in the entire Test match. I feel this is a very big area of concern and it is required to rectify this in the upcoming series,” said Karim.
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