‘Very Surprised to see Jasprit Bumrah playing in this Sri Lanka Series’ – says former India pacer Ashish Nehra

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra said that he is very surprised to see the inclusion of Jasprit Bumrah in the ongoing three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

India have rested Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant for this series to manage their workload and give them some much needed rest ahead of important series coming ahead. However, Bumrah has been included along with Ravindra Jadeja, who is making a comeback after a long injury layoff.

Both players were seen playing in the first T20I in Lucknow, which India won by a massive margin of 62 runs. Bumrah has also been announced as the vice-captain for this series in the absence of KL Rahul, who has been sidelined with an injury.

Ahead of the first T20I, Nehra was seen talking about Bumrah’s inclusion during an interaction with Cricbuzz.

“I am very surprised that Bumrah is playing in these three T20Is. Every player wants to play, no doubt, but we have two Tests following the T20I series. There are more matches to come. We have more options and other players need game time, as well as confidence,” said Nehra.

He also said that Bumrah’s inclusion means lack of gametime for other players like Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan. The youngsters have been consistent performers in the IPL and domestic cricket of late and need to be tried out at this level.

“We have talked about the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. You can give more game time to Mohammed Siraj; Avesh Khan has also played just one match so far. The moment Bumrah comes back, one of these players will have to miss out. So I’m surprised he (Bumrah) is playing here,” Nehra added.

Bumrah bowled three overs in the first T20I against Sri Lanka and conceded just 19 runs, even though he didn’t pick up a wicket. Bhuvneshwar picked up two wickets while bowling just two overs and Venkatesh Iyer picked up a couple of important wickets as well. Apart from them, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with a wicket each.

India’s victory was mainly built on Ishan Kishan’s 89 at the top of the order and Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 57 off just 28 deliveries, which helped India to post a total of 199/2 in their quota of overs. Sri Lanka, in response, could muster a total of only 137/6, thus losing the match by 62 runs.