Legendary opening batter Sunil Gavaskar has urged Team India to plan in the Asia Cup, recommending that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah be rested not only for the dead-rubber against Oman but even for the opening Super 4 against Pakistan.
India has already wrapped up top spot in Group A after comfortable wins over the UAE and Pakistan, placing the Abu Dhabi meeting with Oman as an opportunity to rotate the lineup. The Super 4s begin this weekend, with India’s scheduled rematch against Pakistan set for September
21, 2025. The former also believes Bumrah remains India’s frontline wicket taker in T20Is, and his value to the team in big games may outweigh the need to bench him in a dead rubber.
“This would give the batters some practice not just for the game against Pakistan, but also for the upcoming Super 4 matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It’s more about preparing the batters than the bowlers. I believe Jasprit Bumrah should be rested, perhaps even for the Pakistan game, so he’s available for the bigger match on Sunday, the 28th, which is against Sri Lanka. That’s what India should be looking at. Of course, there will still need to be one bench player included, but Bumrah should be left out for tomorrow’s game to give him res,” Gavaskar said as quoted by India Today.
Gavaskar mentioned using the Oman game to test bench strength and hand valuable batting time to middle-order options who have barely faced a ball so far.
“I would like to think that India would consider batting first and keep the same opening pair. Maybe number three, Suryakumar Yadav, the skipper, could drop himself down the order, giving Tilak Verma a chance for some time at the crease and allowing Sanju Samson a bit of a hit as well," Gavaskar added.
India's probable XI against Oman
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
