3 reasons why India must not rest Jasprit Bumrah for IND vs SL Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 match

With India having qualified for the Asia Cup 2025 final, critics and fans are debating whether Jasprit Bumrah should be rested for the last Super 4 match against Sri Lanka on Friday, September 26 in Dubai. While the Men in Blue have already qualified for the final, Sri Lanka have been knocked out of the tournament. As a result, the India vs Sri Lanka clash has been reduced to a dead rubber.

India began their campaign in Asia Cup 2025 with a thumping nine-wicket win over UAE in Dubai. They then got the better of Pakistan by seven wickets at the same venue before registering an unconvincing 21-run win over Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. In the Super 4 stage, Team India again beat Pakistan by six wickets and Bangladesh by 41 runs to reach the summit clash.

Amid the debate over possible changes to India's playing XI for the Super 4 match against Sri Lanka on Friday, we look at three reasons why the Men in Blue must not rest Bumrah for the dead rubber.

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#1 India would want Jasprit Bumrah to maintain his rhythm ahead of Asia Cup 2025 final

There is only a day's gap between the India vs Sri Lanka match in Dubai and the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 final, which will be played at the same venue on September 28. As such, the Men in Blue would want their strike bowler with the new ball to be in best rhythm. Going by cricketing logic, playing the game against Sri Lanka would give him a better chance of doing so as opposed to being rested.

It may be recalled that the right-arm pacer was given a break for the group match against Oman in Abu Dhabi and was replaced by Arshdeep Singh. He looked off color when the returned to the side for the Super 4 clash against Pakistan. The 31-year-old was uncharacteristically erratic and expensive, going wicketless.

It is not to say that Bumrah would struggle in the Asia Cup 2025 final if he is rested for the Super 4 game against Sri Lanka. However, the best-scenario definitely is that the Team India fast bowler plays the match against the Lankans on Friday and the final against Pakistan on Sunday.

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#2 Jasprit Bumrah's workload in Asia Cup 2025 hasn't been excessive

This is another key factor that must be taken into consideration while deciding whether or not Bumrah should be rested for Friday's dead rubber against Sri Lanka. It is a fact that fast bowler has not had to shoulder a great volume of workload in the Asia Cup 2025 so far. There are multiple reasons for the same.

First, the matches in the group stage were well spaced out. Team India played their first Group A match against hosts UAE on September 10 in Dubai and then faced Pakistan on September 14. Their third group clash was against Oman on September 19 in Dubai for which Bumrah was rested. So, the fast bowler has already had a break in the tournament.

Bowler	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy	BBI
Jasprit Bumrah	15	5	22	7.33	2-18
Hardik Pandya	13	3	37.66	8.69	1-26
Shivam Dube	10	5	15.60	7.80	3-4
Arshdeep Singh	4	1	37	9.25	1-37
Harshit Rana	3	1	25	8.33	1-25

(Bowling stats of Indian pacers in Asia Cup 2025)

Also, considering that Asia Cup 2025 is being played in the T20 format, workload does not actually come into the picture to a great extent. Across four innings, Bumrah has bowled 15 overs and has claimed five wickets at an average of 22 and an economy rate of 7.33, with a best of 2-18.

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#3 More overs under his belt ahead of Test series against West Indies would be good preparation

At a press conference a couple of days back, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate hinted that Bumrah is unlikely to be rested for the match against Sri Lanka. He also pointed out that the pacer has not had to deal with excessive workload in the tournament. The former Dutch cricketer also opined that bowling more overs will be good preparation for him for the Tests against West Indies.

"Bearing in mind, we have a Test match starting on Thursday (October 2). So, it's actually quite good preparation in terms of workload management. If he plays all the games, he'll bowl in the region of 25-26 overs, with training and preparation, which is a fairly good number before a Test," ten Doeschate had said.

The Indian assistant coach's thoughts do make a lot of sense. Considering all the above-mentioned factors, it would be fair to conclude that Team India will do well to not rest Bumrah for the dead rubber against Sri Lanka on Friday.