NEW DELHI: South Africa legend AB de Villiers has weighed in on India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, predicting that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will not feature in every game of the tournament due to workload management. The 31-year-old fast bowler, who has battled multiple injuries in recent years, was named in the 15-member squad announced last week for the continental showpiece starting September 9.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Bumrah played only three out of five Tests on India’s recently concluded tour of England, sparking questions about his fitness and match availability. De Villiers, speaking on his YouTube channel, endorsed the selectors’ cautious approach.
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“Great to see him in the squad, fit and ready to go. I don’t think he will play all the games,” de Villiers said. “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.”
The former Proteas captain stressed 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 heaped praise on left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, calling him “intelligent and very bold.” He described Kuldeep as a rare cricketer with both bowling skill and athleticism: “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.
- Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
