India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli explains why Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t played limited-overs cricket after World Cup

India completely overwhelmed the West Indies batsmen in the second innings of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. Ajinkya Rahane scored a brilliant century while Hanuma Vihari slammed 93 as India gave West Indies a target of 419 runs to win the first Test. The hosts were then humbled as the Indian bowlers kept taking wickets in regular intervals.

It was a clinical performance from the Indian bowlers as they bowled out the Windies for just 100 runs. India won the match by 318 runs to earn their fourth-highest Test victory. Jasprit Bumrah was in top form as he bamboozled the Windies batsmen with his guile and pace and picked up five wickets in the second innings.

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Virat Kohli was eclectic after the superb victory as he singled out Rahane and KL Rahul for praise while lauding the Indian bowling line-up. Kohli then went on to talk about performance of Bumrah while explaining the reason behind the speedster’s absence from India’s ODI and T20I squads for the tour of West Indies.

‘Bumrah’s workload is most important which is why he didn’t play any white-ball games after the World Cup. He’ll be a key factor for us as long as the World Test Championship continues,’ Virat said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

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Virat also talked about the other pacers in the Indian line-up who have contributed immensely in India’s run to the top of the Test rankings.

‘Shami is the same and Ishant is a banker, reliable always. Umesh is there too and Navdeep is waiting in the wings. We are settled as our bowling options, but managing workloads will be important.’

India will now head to Sabina Park in Jamaica for the second Test which starts on 30th August.