Former India cricketer turned analyst Mohammad Kaif has slammed the team management for resting veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah during the second T20I against New Zealand in Raipur, where India registered a seven-wicket win while chasing 209.

During a discussion on his YouTube channel on Saturday, January 24, Kaif said, “Rest for what? What workload? Did he just come back after playing a lot? He has already come after taking proper rest. No, no, this thing just doesn’t make sense to me. If you want to give rest, give rest to Arshdeep Singh. If you want to bring in Harshit Rana, if Axar Patel is injured and you need batting at number eight, then rest Arshdeep and bring in Bumrah. I mean, why are we even comparing here? There is no comparison at all.”

“If Bumrah was left out because of a combination, saying that you need batting at number eight, then that is wrong. No power in the world can keep Bumrah out because of team combination. The team will adjust the combination, but Bumrah will play in the XI,” he further added.

However, Mohammad Kaif further added that a player like Jasprit Bumrah cannot be rested after just one game, especially when he is not playing ODIs and returned after a break as well and Mohammed Siraj continues to play domestic cricket as well.

“A bowler like Jasprit Bumrah cannot be rested after one match. He hasn’t even been playing that much anyway. He didn’t play ODIs. He has already come after taking a rest. He doesn’t even play domestic cricket much. Siraj, on the other hand, goes and plays domestic cricket whenever he gets the chance. He plays Ranji, he plays Vijay Hazare. Bumrah has come properly rested. Now if you talk about rest, yes, rest is taken when a player has played continuously, has body soreness, or has some back issue. I don’t know what it is. That’s when a player is rested, or when workload management is involved. But on both these points, I don’t agree here,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.