Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has issued a stern warning to the team management against rushing the country's leading pace sperhead Jaspirt Bumrah back into the Playing 11 before ODI World Cup 2023. It is pertinent to note that the Indian speedster hasn't played a match since September 2022. While there were reports that he might recover in time for the T20 World Cup last year, he not only went on to miss that competition, but did not feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in London.
And now as India gears up for yet another marquee event- the ODI World Cup at home, they will want their main weapon in the pace bowling department to be at the prime of his fitness. However, the ex-India head coach has said that the management should be very careful with bringing in Bumrah as he will return after a liong injury layoff and might even end up aggravating his injury and being on the sidelines for a prolonged period of time.
"He (Bumrah) is a very important cricketer. But if you rush him for the World Cup then you might lose him for four months later on, much like Shaheen Afridi. So there's a thin line and it needs to be thought about," Shastri told The Week in an interview.
Talking about Hardik Pandya, Shastri ruled out the all-rounder's return to red-ball cricket by saying that his body won't be able to take up that much exertion. However, he reckons that Hardik could be the team's next white-ball captain after the World Cup.
"Let's be clear. His body (Hardik) cannot cope with Test cricket. After the World Cup, I feel he should take over captaincy in white-ball cricket. Rohit should lead India in the World Cup, no question there," he said.