Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach, expressed disbelief at Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the second Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Edgbaston. With India trailing 1-0 in the five-match series, Bumrah was rested for workload management, and Akash Deep took his place.
Captain Shubman Gill mentioned that the team felt Lord’s would suit Bumrah better. Shastri disagreed. This is a very important match, and they’ve had a week off. I’m a little surprised Bumrah is not playing this game. The decision should be made by the captain and coaching staff, not the player. This is an important game for the series; he should be playing it more than anything else.
“Lord’s can wait. This is the important game where you need to counter punch almost immediately. Play this one, tie the series, and then give him the option to rest at Lord’s. Do you think he’ll rest then? No way, if you win this. Considering India’s run, this is a very, very important test match.”
“You’ve lost three against New Zealand and three against Australia. You lost the first Test here and need to get back to winning. You have the best fast bowler in the world, and he’s sitting out after seven days of rest. It’s hard to believe, Shastri said on Sky Sports.
Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy replaced B Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur, which does improve India’s batting. But without Bumrah, India looks noticeably different. Stuart Broad, the former England fast bowler, also showed surprise at Bumrah’s exclusion.
A week is plenty of rest for a fast bowler. (Bumrah’s omission) surprises me. I was also surprised he said before the series he’d only play three of the five Tests. You keep that quiet and approach each week at a time. They will surely want Bumrah at Lord’s because of the swing, but can they risk him here? he remarked.