Looks like Jasprit Bumrah probably won’t play in the 2nd Test against England, which kicks off July 2nd in Birmingham. Before the India team left for England, head coach Gautam Gambhir mentioned that Bumrah would only play three of the five Tests because of his workload.
India’s down 0-1 after losing in Leeds, so Bumrah not playing in Birmingham could really hurt their chances of getting back in the series. But, former India opener Aakash Chopra isn’t so sure about Gambhir talking openly about Bumrah’s workload. Chopra thinks Gambhir and the team could have kept England guessing about whether Bumrah would play.
Bumrah said he’s only playing three matches, and I’m wondering if he needed to say that out loud. Why not keep it a secret? We don’t just announce our team. So why keep saying he’d only play three matches before the tour even started? Let them wonder. Play whichever Tests you want, Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
You’ve played one, and now you know you can only play two of the four left, which isn’t great. If you play the second one too, you’ll only play one of the last three. All of a sudden, the other team thinks, ‘Great, Bumrah, their best player, isn’t going to be there.’ They can get the pitches ready for that,” he added.
Chopra pointed out that it’s important to get some new fast bowlers ready since there’s some worry about Bumrah and the others.
India is going to need a new group of fast bowlers ready to go. It’s a big deal. Two things helped India play well away from home. First, the batters started scoring runs, but that’s not enough, you’ve got to take 20 wickets. Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj were great along with Jasprit Bumrah, said Chopra.
I also remember Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Lord’s Test. If there’s any doubt about Bumrah playing, who’s going to step up? Mohammad Shami, I think his time is almost up. Mohammed Siraj is good, but he’s not quite as good as Bumrah or Shami, he said.