“I've always been against it” - Irfan Pathan slams Jasprit Bumrah for his ‘pick and choose’ act

Former Team India all-rounder Irfan Pathan took to YouTube to slam the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for picking and choosing games in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England.

Advertisment

Ahead of the start of the England tour, the BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear that Bumrah would be playing only three out of five Tests, citing workload concerns. However, with Bumrah opting for rest when India was trailing the series by 1-2 at the Oval, eyebrows were raised.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Pathan stated that whenever Bumrah came out to bowl in the just concluded Test series, he didn’t push himself harder to bowl one extra over, adding that he could’ve taken Joe Root’s wicket had he pushed for more overs.

“There were moments, like when a sixth over was needed. I spoke about this during commentary as well. Joe Root had been dismissed by him 11 times, and in that Lord's Test, Bumrah bowled five overs. Just one more over, the sixth, could have pushed harder. I felt he held back a little there. There was also some pick-and-choose, which I've always been against, and that was visible too," Irfan Pathan said on the YouTube channel.

Advertisment

While rating the Indian players, Pathan could give Bumrah only six points out of 10 as he didn’t live up to the expectations and moreover, India couldn’t win any of the matches Bumrah played on the tour.

“Bumrah will get six out of ten. Why? The reason is that when you're a senior player, there is a lot of responsibility on you to win matches. He played in three Tests, and India didn't win any of them,” he added.

“Let's go back to the first Test. He took five wickets in the first innings but didn't get a single wicket in the second innings. At that crucial time, when your main match-winner is expected to step up and win the game, it's up to him to find a way, whether it's over the wicket, around the wicket, yorkers, slower balls, bouncers, to create pressure. In the Leeds Test, we didn't see that pressure being built. England ended up scoring heavily, and Bumrah didn't take a single wicket, which was a bit surprising. And this didn't happen just once,” he concluded.

Advertisment

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!