Pakistan interim coach Aaqib Javed counseled India to be worried about their premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has gone off to fitness ahead of India’s clash with Pakistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Dubai on February 23. Bumrah has not played since back spasm ruled out his bowling in the fourth innings of the Sydney Test. As mentioned by captain Rohit Sharma on the eve of the ODI series in Nagpur, officials have reported he is currently at BCCI COE in Bengaluru, where his availability for the Champions Trophy will be decided after scans are completed.
“They should be worried about Bumrah’s fitness. The beautiful thing about the Champions Trophy is that you cannot take lightly any team. The top eight best teams are playing. If any team has a bowler like Bumrah, it will be an add-on for that team. But it is not that we would plan everything around him,” Aaqib told reporters on the sidelines of Pakistan’s training session at the Ghani Glass ground in Lahore on Wednesday.
There has been widespread outrage among critics and supporters alike regarding the selections of Faheem Ashraf and Khushdil Shah in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy squad, who do not seem to have enough application in their CVs to justify selection for the eight-team tournament.
“You’re wrong if choosing a squad is based on two performances. More likely, it’s going to be the same team for the Champions Trophy. And when you look into it specifically, you have three pool matches: New Zealand, India, Bangladesh. This requires the top seven batters with four bowling options, including two all-rounders.
“Faheem and Khushdil both provide optimal fit for sub-continent conditions as opposed to Australia or South Africa,” said Aaqib, who is also chief selector for the side.
He also mentioned that Pakistan’s aim should be to reach around 325 runs in the tri-series involving New Zealand and South Africa, as well as in the Champions Trophy.
“In recent years, a score of 200 runs has become the benchmark in T20 cricket, thus the possibility of a total score of 325-350 is quite possible in ODIs with the alterations of some fielding restrictions as only four fielders can stay outside the circle in early overs,” he informed.