Jasprit Bumrah is eagerly eyeing the challenge of featuring in Test matches in England, but the star India pacer admitted the difficulty of playing all three formats for a long time and said he will have to be more "selective" at some point.
While announcing the India squad for the tour of England, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that Bumrah might not be available for all five Test matches.
"Obviously, it is tough for any individual to keep playing everything for so long. I've been doing it for a while, but then eventually you have to understand where your body's going, what is the important tournament," Bumrah told former Australian skipper Michael Clarke in the Beyond 23 podcast.
The 31-year-old has played 45 Tests, 89 ODIs and 70 T20Is so far for the country besides appearing in 143 IPL matches for Mumbai Indians.
"You have to be a little selective and you have to be a little smart about how you use your body. As a cricketer, I would never want to leave anything and always keep on going.
"At this moment I'm okay, but I don't set goals or I don't look at myself that this is the number that I should be at and this is the time," he added.
However, Bumrah termed the desire to represent India in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as a motivating factor for him.
Cricket will be a part of LA 2028, a first for the sport since 1900.
"The journey's going good so far. The day I realise that the drive is gone or the effort is not there and my body's not holding up, that is a decision when you take that time.
"I've heard that there's cricket in the Olympics, so that is something that I'm looking forward to. Who would have thought cricket as an Olympic sport? So, that is something that is really exciting to me. But I don't set goals because whenever I've set goals, I've never been able to fulfil them," he added.
England is a different challenge
Bumrah will spearhead India's attack in England during the five-match Test series, and he was keen to tame that challenge.
"You know, playing in England is always a different challenge. I always love bowling with the Duke ball. But I don't know how much the Duke ball is doing right now because there's always constant changes to the ball.
"But the weather, the swinging condition sometimes... then when the ball becomes soft, you know, there's always a challenge. So I always look forward to playing in England." Bumrah also felt that England's Bazball way of cricket would give the Indian bowlers a fine chance in the Test series.
"They're playing an interesting style of cricket, which is an interesting one because I don't really understand it too much.
"But as a bowling unit, you know, we always feel confident that when the batters are being ultra aggressive, on a given day, anybody could run through and, you know, get wickets," he noted.
Bumrah said the inclusion of Mohammed Siraj in the line-up will do a world of good for India against England.
"In Australia, we did miss (Mohammad) Shami. And Siraj was gaining confidence. So, yeah, it's always good when he's there. He's very skillful. So, it always adds a lot of input.
"So, yes, not thinking about England too much at this moment. Right now, we're at an important stage of the IPL. As and when we get there, you start planning on the go because you can't be thinking about something else and playing something else," he said.
The ace fast bowler said he channelises his aggression through performances, rather than trying to sledge the opposition batters.
"I do have my competitive spirit and I do play to win, but I don't want to cross the line. You want to give your best, but you don't have to be a clown. That is something I try and not to be. I am only looking at bowling fast.
"So, I try to control my aggression, drive it in a manner which will help me. And then probably I found a way to use it to my advantage," he said.
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