India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has revealed that they are keeping a close eye on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload and they will monitor him after the Pune Test against New Zealand. Bumrah bowled a total of 27 overs in the opening Test at Bengaluru and picked up three wickets.

India is all set to play a five-match Test series against Australia and Bumrah is going to hold the key, with questions regarding Mohammed Shami’s availability still there.

Meanwhile, India has replaced Mohammed Siraj with Akash Deep for the second Test at Pune as the latter hasn’t been in the best of forms. Furthermore, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar come in for KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav respectively.

“Once the series is over, we still have around 10 or 12 days before the (first) Test starts in Australia. That is enough break for our fast bowlers as well. But we will still monitor after this Test match where Jasprit Bumrah is,” Gambhir stated in pre-match press conference.

“But it’s not only about Jasprit Bumrah. It’s about with all the fast bowlers as well. We want to keep them fresh. We know that obviously we’ve got a long tour and an important tour of Australia.

“Workload management will definitely depend on what the outcome of this Test match is and how much have they bowled in this match,” he added.

There is no doubt that it is essential for the Indian think tank to manage Bumrah’s workload as he is the team’s pack leader. 

India has won the last two Test series against Australia while playing Downunder and they will be determined to replicate the same success in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.