Jasprit Bumrah ‘available’, but India to take last-minute call for Edgbaston Test

Indian cricket fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Jasprit Bumrah will play the IND vs ENG Edgbaston Test. While there were talks of resting Bumrah for the 2nd Test, India batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed that Bumrah is available to play. The eight-day gap between the 1st and the 2nd Test played a role as Bumrah got enough time to rest and recover. However, the team management did not confirm whether Bumrah would play at Edgbaston.

If he plays in Birmingham, chances are high that Bumrah might miss out on the Lord’s Test with just a four-day gap between the Edgbaston and Lord’s Test.

“With Bumrah, he is ready to play. It’s how we manage these four Tests. So if we feel like there’s value in playing him in this Test, we’ll make that call at the very last minute. But I’m talking about whether, how the pitch is going to play. Are we better off holding him back for Lord’s and maybe Manchester or the Oval? So it’s all those factors,” Ryan ten Doeschate said at a media conference in Birmingham on Monday.

Bumrah’s workload management key

While Doeschate revealed that Bumrah will only play 3 Tests, there are chances that the pacer could end up playing four. It will depend on the conditions and workload.

“But you’ve seen him train yesterday, he trained a little bit today. It’s not like he’s not fit to play. It’s just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of him, out of what we know we do have from him. We know from the start he’s only going to play three out of the five. He’s had eight days to recover from the last Test. But given conditions, workload, and how we think we can best manage for the next four games, we haven’t made a call on that,” Doeschate said.

India’s bowling in Leeds

Can India put up a fight without Bumrah?

No doubt, Jasprit Bumrah was the standout bowler for India in the Leeds Test with a fifer in the first innings. However, a lack of support from others would be worrying for Team India. Both Prasidh Krishna and Mohd Siraj were erratic, while Shardul Thakur did not get the backing from captain Shubman Gill to bowl longer spells.

Doeschate believes the Indian bowling unit has the capability to win or draw without Bumrah. In the 2nd innings of the Leeds Test, Bumrah went wicketless with Shardul, Prasidh and Jadeja chipping away with wickets.

“It is tempting, but we also feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit. That’s putting the eggs in the back end of the series. We’re going to need him at some stage as well. You’ve got to decide when you’re going to play your strongest suit. We feel that whatever we put out there, we can compete in this Test match. We came pretty close without Jasprit in the second half. He didn’t get any wickets. But you can’t win the Test series with just one bowler in any case. And the bowlers are very well aware of that, that they need to chip in with wickets,” he added.