Bumrah, Hardik to be preserved for longer formats: Agarkar
The national selection panel on Saturday did not include premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the squads to tour Ireland and England in a strong indication that the wisemen are largely reserving their services for Tests and ODIs respectively in the coming season.
Bumrah and Pandya were a shadow of themselves in the recent IPL 2026 for Mumbai Indians after being on the field since late last year playing several T20 games, including a triumphant campaign in the World Cup, warranting a careful handling of the duo.
Bumrah will return to action during the Asian Games to be held from September 17 to October 3, but chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear that the pacer will be used more in longer formats.
“Yeah, and also one-day World Cup, like T20 (format) was in the last World Cup...we know how important he is,” Agarkar replied when he was asked if Bumrah was being preserved for Test assignments.
“The WTC cycle...we’ve still got a chance to (qualify for the final) if we play well enough over these next nine Tests, if we can have Jasprit play majority of those games and still keep him fit and healthy, it’s always a (great) thing,” he added.
India are set to tour Sri Lanka and New Zealand for two Tests each before taking on Australia in a five-match series at home, which would determine their qualification for the final of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle.
The Shubman Gill-led side is languishing at the sixth spot behind Bangladesh in the table and they will require Bumrah firing from all cylinders to revive the campaign. “There’s a lot of T20 cricket, you can always bring him back. (In the) Asian Games, he will be there. The main aim is to try and keep him fit for the Test and the one-dayers,” Agarkar said. The former India pacer said “worry” was not the right word for India’s current position in the WTC table but said he would like to see the team do better.
“I don’t know whether worry is the right word. I think (the) England (tour) was good and the South African series probably didn’t go to plan. But, we still have a chance (to reach the final) if we play well enough and we know we’ve got the players but, we’ve got to play better,” he said.
Unlike Bumrah, Pandya’s chances of returning to the T20 establishment looks slimmer as Agarkar made it clear that he will be used more in the 50-over format.
“He is a part of the one-day squad right now in (the) Afghanistan (series). Like Bumrah, if we can get him playing well and keep him fit for one-day cricket — I don’t think he’s played one-day cricket for a while — that is, at this point, the main objective,” said Agarkar.
