Asia Cup 2025: "I don't think he will play all the games…"- AB de Villiers' shocking statement on Jasprit Bumrah, lauds Ajit Agarkar for this huge step

Jasprit Bumrah will lead India’s pace attack during Asia Cup 2025.

Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has backed the Indian selectors’ proactive measures to manage Jasprit Bumrah’s workload in international cricket. Bumrah has been picked in India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025 and will lead the team’s pace attack in the tournament.

While revealing the squad for Asia Cup 2025, India chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that there is no fixed workload plan for Bumrah. But they aim to play him in all the big tournaments and series. Notably, Bumrah only played three games out of five matches during India’s recently-concluded test series against England.

The right-arm pacer was advised to play three out of five tests of the series to manage his workload and not risk any kind of injury. The 31-year-old was injured after featuring in all five games during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, which forced him to miss the crucial ICC Champions Trophy 2025 later.

That’s how you should be managing your senior and most impactful players: AB de Villiers

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Proteas batting legend De Villiers backed Indian selectors’ proactive measures to manage Bumrah’s workload. He also added that managing the workload of older players will help them perform at their best.

“Great to see him in the squad, fit and ready to go. I don’t think he will play all the games. 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,” he said.

“It’s not like they are picking and choosing. So much cricket these days that for your older guys, over age 30, their work has taken its toll over the years. Some selectors understand it and some don’t. And 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.

Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are the other two pacers in the India squad for Asia Cup 2025. Seam-bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube will add more depth to the pace department.

Meanwhile, India are placed in Group A in Asia Cup 2025 along with Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE. They will play their opening match against the UAE on September 10, followed by clashes against Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19.

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