Mumbai, July 22 (IANS): Gautam Gambhir’s much-awaited first press conference as the new India head coach took place on Monday where the former opening batsman laid down his vision for the side. Amongst the many topics he covered during the presser, he talked about the importance of workload management for the premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and called him a ‘rare bowler’.

"I've said it before, workload management for someone like Jasprit (Bumrah) is important. He is one rare bowler that anyone would want. You want him to play important games. That's why the workload management for not just him but fast bowlers is important,” Gambhir said in the press conference.

Bumrah has repeatedly proved his worth for the Indian side. The 30-year-old previously spent an extended time on the sidelines and spent most of 2022 going in and out of the Indian team. He missed the 2022 T20 World Cup where India were eliminated in the semi-finals and then went on to have back surgery in March 2023 which kept him out for a further four months.

His return was marked in the India vs Ireland series in August 2023 where he made his captaincy debut. He followed this with an exemplary performance at the 2023 ODI World Cup and then went on to bowl historic figures during the T20 World Cup winning campaign showcasing his importance to the bowling unit.

The new head coach further went on to suggest that although workload management for fast bowlers is very important, he still expects batters to be available for all formats of the game.

"If you are a batter, who's batting well, you might as well just play all formats. Rohit and Virat have retired from T20Is now, so they will play two formats from now. Hopefully, they are available for most of the games," he added.