‘I don’t think he will play all the games…’: Star South Africa cricketer hails Indian selector’s approach to Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management

Former South Africa captain Ab de Villiers supported the approach of Indian selectors's towards star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, as he is one of the key bowler in the team.

South Africa’s batting great AB de Villiers shared his views on India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, predicting that pace ace Jasprit Bumrah may not play every match of the tournament because of workload management. The 31-year-old, who has struggled with several injuries in recent years, was included in the 15-member squad announced last week for the continental tournament beginning on September 9.

Bumrah played only three out of the five Tests in India’s recently concluded tour of England, raising concerns about his availability for matches and level of fitness. While speaking on his YouTube channel, De Villiers supported the selector’s approach towards Bumrah’s workload management.

Great to see him in the squad, fit and ready to go. I don’t think he will play all the games,” said de Villiers. “I saw reports saying he will be earmarked for the games that matter, and I love that about the selectors being proactive. That’s how you should be managing your senior and most impactful players.”

De Villiers highlighted the importance of protecting players over 30

The former Proteas skipper also highlighted the importance of protecting players over 30 from burnout. “It’s not like they are picking and choosing. There’s just so much cricket these days. For your older guys, their work has taken its toll over the years. Once you start managing these players, you will get the best out of them, and i love it that they’ve started doing that with Jasprit Bumrah,” he added

De Villiers also showered praise on left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and said, “he is intelligent and very bold”. He further said, “He’s got a very good brain and outsmarts the batters.”

India squad for Asia Cup 2025
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Story Highlights

1. South Africa great AB de Villiers  backed selector’s approach towards Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management
2. Jasprit Bumrah featured in only three out of the five Test matches against England, raising concern about his fitness
3. The former skipper also showered praise on Kuldeep Yadav and called his very intellegent and bowled