'Bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hai': Rohit Sharma drops stinging remark on Bumrah-less pace attack before 1st Test vs WI

Rohit Sharma opened up about players’ occasional bouts of injuries as new-look India set to kickstart its WTC campaign against the West Indies.

"For the past six to eight months, I am used to playing without Jasprit Bumrah," Rohit Sharma had said when the Indian skipper was leading Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rohit's Mumbai Indians contested the entire edition of the IPL without pace spearhead Bumrah and the record-time winners even made it to the playoffs of the cash-rich league with a below-par pace attack.

Rohit has shared his views on leading Team India with an inexperienced bowling attack against the West Indies (Getty Images-BCCI)

Wind back to December 2022, an injured Rohit fired a stern warning to the Indian management over players sustaining injuries after clearing fitness tests at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). India didn't have the luxury to fully showcase its star-studded lineup in ICC events. Rohit and Co. missed the services of Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah at the T20 World Cup. The Asian giants were then without Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

Fast forwarding the clock to the present, Team India is all set to enter the new cycle of WTC but the same old injury problems have weighed on the Rahul Dravid-coached side. Already missing the services of speedster Bumrah, India have opted to rest veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for its first assignment in the new season of the WTC. Just like premier batter Cheteshwar Pujara, senior pacer Umesh Yadav was dropped from the Indian squad for the West Indies series.

'Humare paas fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hai'

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the 1st Test between India and the West Indies, Rohit was asked to share his views on leading the visitors with an inexperienced bowling attack in the Caribbean. “We’ve seen that the pacers have taken a lot of wickets here. But it is what it is. Players get injured and we have to rotate them unfortunately. Humare paas fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hai (We don’t have an abundance of pacers). In India, there are a lot of bowlers who are injured. The ones we have, we need to manage them. Which is why our experienced bowlers couldn’t come on this tour,” Rohit told reporters.

'Unadkat isn’t new, he made his debut 10-12 years back'

Speedster Mohammed Siraj is the lynchpin of India's pace attack in the Caribbean this season. Siraj, who has played 19 Tests, is the most experienced pacer in the current Indian squad for the West Indies series. Pacer Siraj is joined by Shardul Thakur (9), Jaydev Unadkat (2), Navdeep Saini (2) and Mukesh Kumar, who received his maiden Test call-up after a remarkable domestic season. “Jaydev (Unadkat) isn’t new, he made his debut 10-12 years back. Mukesh Kumar has performed consistently in domestic cricket. He has done well for his state as well as in zonal games and for India A. We’ll see the combination we need to pick,” Rohit added.

India are also focusing on the bigger picture as Rohit and Co. will prepare for the World Cup with the white-ball series against the West Indies in the Caribbean. The veteran Indian opener hinted that the visitors can test their bench strength in their upcoming white-ball assignments. After the two-match Test series, Team India is also scheduled to play 3 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and five T20Is against the Men from the Caribbean.

'For Indian cricket, this will always be a challenge'

“For Indian cricket, this will always be a challenge since we play a lot of cricket. We have to manage players, rotate them, give them enough break so that they are fresh. We also need to remember the big tournament that’s coming up. We need to keep everyone fresh for the World Cup. That’s also something we have to remember because right now we don’t have the luxury to focus on one particular series. It’s also beneficial since the new players are also getting an opportunity. We also need to create bench strength. It gives us an idea how those in the background who’ve been working hard handle the pressure at the international stage,” Rohit concluded.