The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly considering tweaking its selection policies regarding Jasprit Bumrah. According to The Times of India, Bumrah might be considered for future Test series only if he’s available for all matches. That’s in contrast to the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he had declared beforehand that his body can only manage three games, and the team stuck to it.
It meant resting him after India lost the first Test at Headingley. Though a new bowling combination got the team a turnaround in the second game, India brought Bumrah back for the next two matches. He was still the team’s best bowler across the games he played, taking 14 wickets at 26, but he seemed to be suffering from cramps and slight injuries in the fourth game, leading to another rest for the deciding Test at the Oval.
“Strength and condition (S&C) coaches can set the workload threshold for each player. But Bumrah’s availability should depend on his fitness, which will be assessed by the medical team," the report cited a BCCI ‘source’ as saying.
India doesn’t have any five-Test series scheduled till at least July 2026, but Bumrah plays all three formats for the country and is equally the most important in them.
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate was made aware of this perspective that Bumrah was ‘picking and choosing’ Tests. He said after the first day at the Oval that it was not a fair comment, adding that it was the team’s call on which matches he’d play.
“It’s quite a complex issue around Bumrah, you know, we want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body’s at, and based on that, we just felt that it wasn’t worth including him in the squad," Ten Doeschate said. “… I don’t think picking and choosing is a fair comment to Bumrah, he did say he was going to play three games, he left it up to us which three he played, we’ve tried to manage the situation, it’s not ideal, I guess giving those guys attention, the guys who aren’t playing particularly when you’re carrying 18 is important," he added.
Bumrah’s injury concerns didn’t spring out of thin air, either. He played all five Tests against Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was overbowled even when he was heard saying on the stump mic that he was not able to push himself further. He got injured in the last Test in Sydney and at that time, had bowled the most overs in the series.
