{"id":546300,"date":"2026-04-23T11:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546300\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:31:12","slug":"bcci-tells-team-india-get-serious-about-tests-jasprit-bumrah-told-to-play-all-matches-of-current-wtc-cycle-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546300\/","title":{"rendered":"BCCI tells Team India: \u2018Get serious about Tests\u2019; Jasprit Bumrah told to play all matches of current WTC cycle \u2013 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

To shake things up, the Board of Control for Cricket in India<\/a> (BCCI) has advised the Indian team to take Test cricket more seriously, and a key part of that will be Jasprit Bumrah<\/a> possibly playing all the remaining matches of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. According to a report in the Times of India, Bumrah has been told to play through the WTC, including two Tests in New Zealand and the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy<\/a> series against Australia early next year. With India struggling in the existing WTC cycle \u2013 currently placed sixth in the points table \u2013 the push to revive the team\u2019s good fortunes in Test cricket seems to have taken priority. To achieve this, the BCCI does not mind Bumrah missing a few ODI series, even though the 50-overs World Cup<\/a> is little over a year away.<\/p>\n

\"JaspritJasprit Bumrah, left, and Gautam Gambhir hold the key to India’s revival in Tests (AFP)<\/p>\n

Bumrah’s workload has always been a hot topic of discussion, as the pacer has shown a tendency to break down if not given a breather. He was ruled out for a considerable period \u2013 missing the Champions Trophy \u2013 after featuring in all five Tests in Australia. India therefore rested him for two of the five Tests in England, a series they drew 2-2 last August-September. However, that practice is set to take a backseat as Bumrah remains an invaluable asset for India in the 2025-26 WTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attempt is to keep Bumrah fit enough to play all Tests. He is expected to play the four Tests in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The challenge will be to keep him fresh for the five Tests at home against Australia. The selectors won\u2019t mind resting him for some ODI series. He played T20 cricket after a gap of two years in the Asia Cup last Sept and still delivered,\u201d TOI quoted a BCCI source as saying.<\/p>\n

\u2018Get serious about Tests\u2019<\/p>\n

India\u2019s next Test assignment is a one-off Test match against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh starting June 6, and although it\u2019s not part of the current WTC cycle, the match holds prominence as a precursor to the stern test that lies ahead. In September, India will travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests, a series that promises to be a tough challenge given Indian batters\u2019 travails against quality spin. From there, India tour New Zealand, where they haven\u2019t won a series since 2009 \u2013 ironically Gautam Gambhir played a huge role in that win \u2013 before attempting to retain the BGT in February-Match of 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to get serious about Tests. The Afghanistan Test may be outside the WTC cycle, but there\u2019s nothing like match practice. The top players will be assessed, and a call on them will be taken accordingly,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

India is already hurting from the dramatic fall in Test cricket. In two years, India has been whitewashed at home twice \u2013 losing 0-3 to New Zealand in 2024 and 0-2 to South Africa just last November. For a team that used to dominate at home and pose a stiff threat to opponents in their backyard, the decline under Gambhir has been alarming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To shake things up, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has advised the Indian team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[10226,29102,1721,18855,308,6770,101,56,54,55,106804],"class_list":{"0":"post-546300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-bcci","9":"tag-bumrah","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-gautam-gambhir","12":"tag-india","13":"tag-jasprit-bumrah","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-wtc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}