NEW DELHI: Legendary Sunil Gavaskar feels that if India captain and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is not fit to bowl in the second innings of the ongoing fifth and final Test in Sydney, then the visitors might find even a score of around 200 difficult to defend against Australia.
On the third day of the fifth and final Sydney Test, India had a massive injury scare as Bumrah was not on the field for close to three hours because of back spasm.

The 31-year-old was rushed for precautionary scans but a well-placed source told TimesofIndia.com that there was ‘nothing serious at the moment’. However it also came to light that a call on whether Bumrah will bowl later will be taken on Sunday.
With India currently having a lead of 145 and four wickets remaining, Gavaskar said that Bumrah availability will be very crucial for India in the last innings.
“Look, if India scores 40 more runs or they put 185 on the board then they have a great chance but it all depends on Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit then 145-150 might be enough. But if Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Gavaskar further said that India made the right decision in maintaining secrecy over Bumrah’s availability.
“One thing that I liked was when he came back after the scan, obviously it took a lot of time because the hospital is a bit far, but he looked in good shape and his body language was such that there was no indication of the Australian team and it is very important to maintain the secrecy.
“Because, tactically you do not want to announce whether Bumrah will be available for bowling or not, and even if he is not available and this news goes across the opposition dressing room because till now Australian batsmen haven’t found out a way to counter him, they don’t know whether they should attack, defend, or whether they should play on front-foot.
“So to execute this plan it is important to maintain secrecy, so Bumrah and the Indian team management managed it quite well,” he added.
Riding on Rishabh Pant’s blockbuster 61-run knock, India ended the day with a lead of 145.
At the close of play, India had Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the middle unbeaten on 8 and 6 respectively.