New Delhi: India might rest injury-prone pace spearhead Jasprit Bunrah in their Asia Cup match against Oman after entering the Super 4 stage with two consecutive
wins.
India thrashed UAE and Pakistan to progress beyond the group stage and have the luxury of giving Bumrah a breather on Friday with an eye on their Super Four fixtures on September 21, 24 and 26.
Being India’s best bowler, the team management is keen to wrap Bumrah in a cotton wool given his suspect back where he has suffered serious injuries.
Arshedeep Singh or Harshit Rana could take Bumrah’s place in the playing XI while batters would be happy to spend more time at the crease before facing the likes of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Fours.
‘Power-hitting comes naturally to Abhishek’
Abhishek Sharma is at ease facing 150kmph thunderbolts from pacers as he has been trained to bat against them since his U-16 days, the top-ranked T20I batter’s father Rajkumar said on Tuesday.
Himself a first-class cricketer in his youth, Rajkumar recalled that Abhishek would ue his kit to bat against his sisters late at night.
“There was a cricket atmosphere in my house. He was a child when he used to play with my bat. He used to trouble his mother. I have two daughters and he used to ask them to help him practice, make him bat at night,” Rajkumar said in a video released on BCCI’s social media channels.
“Sometimes he used to tell me I need diving practice, throw a catch to me. Seeing his passion, I thought he could become a player, then I brought him to the ground. The senior players used to say, your son has a lot of talent, he would play for India.
“I used to say he is still a kid, he just learnt to hold the bat. But all the blessings, love of the people and his hard work has brought him here,” the 61-year-old proud father said.
The 25-year-old Indian opener scored 31 off 13 balls, including two sixes and four boundaries, to help India to a seven-wicket win over Pakistan last Sunday.
