WTC Final could have been a different story had Bumrah been fit: Mhambrey

India’s outgoing bowling coach Paras Mhambrey believes that the result in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final between India and Australia could have been different had Rohit Sharma had the services of Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the final due to a back injury.

The 2023 WTC Final at The Oval saw India field a pace attack of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur. Bumrah would have been a starter had he been fit, but a back stress fracture he suffered towards the end of 2022 kept him out of the final.

In Bumrah’s absence, India lost the final comprehensively, suffering a 209-run thrashing at the hands of the Pat Cummins-led Australian side.

Talking to the Indian Express, Mhambrey spoke about India had to come to the ‘acceptance’ that they would be without Bumrah for a long period.

“First thing is acceptance. We accepted he [Bumrah] wasn’t going to be around. Of course, we were monitoring all that he was doing and co-ordination with the NCA was really commendable. He came in and again got injured,” Mhambrey told The Indian Express.

“And it was definitely not easy because we were looking at him for the WTC final, where conditions were just apt for him. It could have been a different story altogether if he was available.”

But Mhambrey asserted that India were clear about how they wanted to bed Bumrah back into the side. As it turned out, the 30-year-old started off playing the T20Is against Ireland in August, and then played the Asia Cup and the bilateral series against Australia before going straight into the World Cup, where he had an outstanding tournament, taking 20 wickets at an economy of 4.06.

“But we knew how long he would be out and we had the World Cup around the corner. We had a clear pathway and it was to gradually get him back into the fold by starting with T20s,” Mhambrey said.

“Simultaneously, it allowed us to develop someone like Siraj. He took the responsibility and took charge of the attack. It was good to see some competition.”

Bumrah’s absence allowed his understudy, Siraj, to grow and evolve as a bowler. Mhambrey spoke about the work the staff did with Siraj in order to help him realize his potential and become a mainstay for the side across formats.

“That’s something we constantly worked on and that’s where data and communication come in. We had a lot of one-on-one chats so that he [Siraj] sticks to a plan. It won’t come straight away. We told him what we expected from him. 

“And it was wonderful to have Rohit also buy into the plan. Once Rohit trusted the plan, the bowler wasn’t going to be reluctant. He was given the time and Rohit trusted him because we saw the potential in Siraj. And with the help of data, we were able to pass on the right message to him. 

“Mistakes did happen, but with every game, he was progressing. From red ball to white ball, he had to work a lot on his lengths and show control and discipline for long periods. Siraj had everything – pace, variations and control. He could generate something off the surface. 

“We used T20s to good use because he has less margin of error in the format and once you get the control there, you take that into ODIs as well. That is what Siraj did. It was all about cutting down the margins.”

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