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Dilip Vengsarkar says that Jasprit Bumrah should have skipped IPL 2025 to stay fit for the crucial India vs England Test series.
Jasprit Bumrah took 32 wickets against Australia in the 2024-25 Test series. (PTI/File)
Former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar has said that, considering the importance of the five-match Test series against England, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah should have been asked by the BCCI to miss IPL 2025, as the debate around his workload continues to go around.
Bumrah played three of the just-concluded five-Test series in which an inexperienced India eked out a creditable 2-2 draw.
The two matches that India won didn’t feature Bumrah because of a pre-decided workload management plan.
“Considering the importance of the India versus England Test series and his fragile back, Bumrah should have been told by the BCCI, selectors and the Indian team management to miss IPL 2025,” Vengsarkar said while speaking to The Times of India.
“It was very important that we had a fully fit and refreshed Bumrah for this iconic series. Who remembers the runs and wickets taken in the IPL? However, people will remember Mohammed Siraj’s lion-hearted performance in this series, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant’s sublime batting and Washington Sundar’s superb all-round performance,” Vengsarkar added.
“A series like this one takes place probably once in four years. I believe India aren’t playing a five-Test series till Jan 2027 (against Australia). It was a series for the ages and I wish Bumrah were available for almost all the Tests,” Vengsarkar said.
Returning from a back injury which forced him to miss the 2025 Champions Trophy in the UAE, Bumrah played in 12 games in IPL 2025 for Mumbai, bowling around 48 overs in which he took 18 wickets.
Bumrah’s planned absence, in the must-win fifth and final Test, did raise some questions about the handling of his workload, but the team management made it clear that the premier pacer couldn’t have been risked.
Bumrah finished with 14 wickets in three matches at an impressive economy of three and an average of 26. He finished as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the series, behind Mohammed Siraj, Josh Tongue and England skipper Ben Stokes.
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