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There has been plenty of debate over India’s decision to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the ongoing Test against England in Birmingham.
Jasprit Bumrah was India’s best bowler on show in the first Test. (AP Photo)
Before flying to England for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had made it clear that they don’t plan to play Jasprit Bumrah in all five Tests of the tour. Bumrah’s participation, Gambhir had said, will be limited to three Tests but he didn’t specify which games.
India lost the series opener in Leeds despite their batters hitting five centuries and Bumrah picking up a five-wicket haul. With the Shubman Gill-led side trailing 0-1, the tourists rested their pace ace for the second Test in Birmingham that got under way from Wednesday – a decision that was widely criticised.
Former England cricketer David Lloyd has joined the list of critics arguing the Indian team was concerned about their lead pacer’s workload, there was a seven-day gap between the first and second Tests indicating enough time to rest and recover.
“Let’s talk about Jasprit Bumrah. If you are the best bowler in the world, your team is trailing and you’ve just had a week off, you should be fit, firing and ready to go again,” Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“The plot thickens. Has Jasprit said ‘I’ll miss this Test and play at Lord’s’ or have the Indian medics said he’s not ready to play? There’s an air of mystery. I’m old school. If you’re a cricketer, then play cricket,” he added.
India made three changes to their playing XI that took the field in Leeds. They benched B Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur while resting Bumrah. Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep have replaced the trio.
Lloyd claimed that the changes give the impression that the team is worried about batting collapses and therefore lengthened the tail.
“India made three changes and what I’m hearing is that their camp would be happy to get to Lord’s, just one-nil down. They lengthened the tail after the collapses at Headingley and my interpretation is that they’ve loaded this team with batters and would be happy with a draw. If you get into that mindset before you’ve even started, you’re shooting yourself in the foot,” he wrote.
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A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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