Tricky decision for selectors ahead of Asia Cup 2025

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

There are some sportspersons from other fields who have a complaint that cricket gets more attention than their sports. They are right as often they don't get the front pages when they have performed exceptionally well in their events at the national or international arenas. That this happens is no fault of the cricketers themselves, for there are times when they would dearly want nothing to be mentioned about them or their game.

Right now, for instance, after one of the most exciting Test Match series in England, they would want to just rest their bodies and minds after two hectic months of some of the most riveting cricket seen in recent times. Yet what do we see. There are big articles in the sports pages of almost all the newspapers with cricket correspondents playing selectors and suggesting who should be in the Indian team for the Asia Cup.

Not only that, there are articles about the possibility of which player is likely to be released by which franchise and who would go where. These cover pretty much the full page with the rest of the page used for advertising as the publishers know where there are columns related to cricket, the readership is likely to be greater and therefore greater exposure to the brand that is being advertised.

Mileage in the media

The grievance of other sports is perfectly legitimate and understandable, but I do hope they will realise that it's not the cricketers who are asking for this coverage. That said, the game in India and the subcontinent is truly fortunate that it gets this mileage in the media. Most other countries have another sport that captures the public imagination with football being the top of the heap, but I don't recall cricketers from these countries ever complaining that footballers are more recognised than they were.

The welcome break for the Indian cricketers should have them raring to go when the new season begins next month. While there are two Tests each against West Indies and South Africa at home, the rest of the matches are mainly white ball bilateral matches with only the Asia Cup being of some consequence.

Nobody is indispensable

That's why it is of prime importance for the selectors to now decide when Jasprit Bumrah should be playing. There's already been a lot of debate about his appearances in the recently concluded series in England. To be fair, he had informed the selection committee that he could play only three Tests out of the five. The debate that has generated some heat is whether he should have played the last must-win Test match, especially since it was the grassiest pitch at the Oval in a long long time. The next Test match was in early October and so there were two clear months for him to rest and recover in time for that. The Indian team management stated that he wasn't picked considering his future. This is where the lines between what is good for the individual and what is good for Indian cricket got a little blurred.

Surely at that stage if he was fit, then for Indian cricket's sake, he had to play. Whether then it was his call or the management's call not to play is not known, but in the end after India's win it showed once again if ever there was need to know that nobody is indispensable in the game. The game just moves on.

That's why now comes the tricky decision for the selectors. What is more important? Qualifying for the World Test Championship or playing some bilateral white ball games which have no bearing at all. If India have to qualify for the WTC, then Jasprit Bumrah, being the premier fast bowler in the game, has to play in the four Tests that India have lined up between early October and late November. There's a gap of a month between these Tests against West Indies and South Africa which means that he should be rested for the white ball series. That should be the logic but then Indian cricket have got its own logic as was seen in the recently concluded series.

The selection committee has taken some bold calls in choosing the squads which has shown remarkable results, and they have to be lauded for that, but when it comes to the selection of the final XI that is entirely the management's call and that's how it should be.

Let's hope when the committee sits down in a couple of days to select the squad for the Asia Cup, the only thought, as always, would be what is good for Indian cricket now and for the future and nothing else.

Professional Management Group