'He is crucial for the team, but...': Ajit Agarkar's big 'workload' verdict on Jasprit Bumrah missing out on Australia ODIs

Though Jasprit Bumrah did earn a place in India's T20I squad for the upcoming five-match series against Australia, he was excluded from the team for the one-day assignment. This comes after the pacer had recently played in a total of five matches for the Men in Blue in Asia Cup and had also featured in first out of the two Tests against West Indies.

Workload still a big issue for Bumrah

After revealing India's squad for their white-ball tour against Australia, Agarkar revealed that Bumrah was rested for the one-day matches so that his workload can be properly managed. He added that even though the pacer is quite an important part of the Indian team, he needs to be timely rested so that he doesn't end up sustaining a serious injury.

“We have already rested him for the one-day games. We will manage his workload whenever possible. Since the Manchester Test, there was about a month and a half break. There is always a plan to give him a break when needed," Agarkar told reporters.

“He is crucial for the team, but we also need to consider the team’s interests. Bumrah is always available when required. We will manage the workload of all seamers, including Mohammed Siraj, to minimise the risk of injury," he added.

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Meanwhile, Bumrah wasn't able to fire at his best in the Asia Cup and finished the tournament with seven wickets in five matches. He followed that up by clinching three wickets in the first West Indies Test, but there is a possibility that he will be rested for the second and final match of the series.

Pandya to not participate in the tour

On the other hand, one of the notable players who hasn't been selected in any of the two Indian squads is Hardik Pandya. This comes after the all-rounder didn't feature in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan after picking up an injury during the Men in Blue's previous match against Sri Lanka. Agarkar made it clear that Pandya wasn't available for selection for the Australia series due to his injury and revealed that the latter will be starting his rehab in a week'stime at BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE).

“We’ll know, in due course, how long it’s going to be at this point, in a week’s time, he’s supposed to be there at the CUE. And once he starts his rehab, we’ll probably get better timelines.  But for Australia, it’s definitely not available," Agarkar stated.

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India's squad for Australia ODIs: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

India's squad for Australia T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar