Is India Depending Too Much on Jasprit Bumrah? Ashish Nehra Speaks

You can say that Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t had a great outing in the recent One Day International series against New Zealand. He went wicketless for the three games. Now, former India pacer Ashish Nehra has come to his defence.

"You can’t expect Bumrah to deliver in every series. One has to remember he is returning from injury. It’s difficult for anybody to keep performing at the top of his game all the time. Even Virat Kohli has had a quiet series," Nehra told TOI.

"The Indian team management could be much better while picking the playing XI. The other pacers, besides Bumrah and (Mohammad) Shami, need to know their roles. They have got used to having Bumrah and Shami firing for the last two years. There’s too much pressure on Bumrah. There has been very little consistency in the team selection so far," Nehra further added.

"In the current scenario, Saini is better prepared for Test cricket than Umesh Yadav, since he has the momentum with the team. But he largely depends on the back-of-a-length deliveries. If he can get his length a bit fuller at his pace, he would open up more chances of getting wickets behind the stumps," Nehra said.

Meanwhile, VVS Laxman came down heavily on the Indian team for their poor fielding skills. "New Zealand responded to a 5-0 defeat in the T20 internationals with a commanding 3-0 sweep of the One-Day International series, but as well as they played, they were aided in no small measure by a fumbling Indian side. Virat Kohli and the management group must be disappointed at the bowling and especially, the fielding," Laxman wrote in his column for TOI.

India and New Zealand are now gearing up for the 2-Test series starting February 21.