'If He Cares A Lot...,' - Sanjay Manjrekar On Jasprit Bumrah's Test Future

image-lr0dun17Jasprit Bumrah rattled South Africa in second innings of Cape Town Test [X.com]

One of India's most potent bowlers across formats over the past several years has been Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah, who has been troubled with back issues, has managed to stage a remarkable comeback since the 2023 World Cup and continued his stellar run in the second Test against South Africa at Cape Town. 

After suffering a rare blip in the Centurion Test, Bumrah rattled South African batters in the second innings of the Newlands contest, where the bowler claimed his third five-wicket haul in Rainbow Nation.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, after India's series-levelling win, opined on Bumrah's Test future.

Speaking to Star Sports, the cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Bumrah needs to give red-ball format priority over white-ball cricket and take inspiration from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Here's what Sanjay Manjrekar said

"It's up to him really. If he cares a lot about Test cricket, he will make sure that he plays more of Test cricket and less of some of the random white-ball bilateral cricket that gets played. It's not even the 50-over World Cup year. So, it's up to Jasprit Bumrah. If he wants to play Test cricket, he will have to actually preserve his body. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma prioritised Test cricket and that's why they have got so many Test matches under their belt."

Bumrah is likely to be rested from India's upcoming T20Is against Afghanistan and will feature in the gruelling five-Test series against England, which commences on January 25.