 "Mike Atherton, Mark Wood analyse India's best plans to manage Jasprit Bumrah's workload: 'They cannot afford to go 2-0 down'")
Team India’s biggest conundrum ahead of the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham, is going to be whether to play Jasprit Bumrah or not. Head coach Gautam Gambhir has already confirmed that Bumrah will only be playing three out of the five matches in the series. Now it’s about deciding which three matches.
Despite Bumrah taking a five-wicket haul, India lost the first Test at Headingley by five wickets as other bowlers did not provide him the proper support. So, will he play in the second Test at Edgbaston?
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has said Bumrah is available, but the final decision is yet to be taken . “He’s available for the game obviously. 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 and workload and how we think we can best manage for the next four games, we haven’t made a call on that. We’re going to see what the other guys are with their workload as well,” Doeschate said.
‘India cannot afford to go 2-0 down’
England pacer Mark Wood and former captain Mike Atherton feel Bumrah must play the second Test in Edgbaston and probably also the third Test at the iconic Lord’s.
Wood said that India cannot afford to go 2-0 down, hence Bumrah must play in the second Test. “They cannot afford to go 2-0 down. So you want your best bowler,” Wood told the Sky Sports podcast. “There’s no way he’s saying, ‘I’m not playing at Lord’s.’ I don’t think so. I think he’ll want to play both games. Even if, let’s just say, India win the next one, and it’s 1-1, I still think they’ll want him to make the difference, to get them ahead. I think every overseas bowler wants to get on that board, and he’ll be the same.”
Atherton added that Bumrah would not want to miss the Lord’s Test and that could be the crucial factor in deciding his participation in the Edgbaston game.
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More Shorts“They have got a decision to make over Bumrah, first of all, because every overseas player wants to play in a Lord’s Test. The Lord’s Test is three days after Edgbaston. In cricketing terms, he should certainly play at Edgbaston, and I’d think very carefully about Old Trafford, because that’s the kind of ground where pace and reverse swing are really important. But as you say, every cricketer wants to play at Lord’s and get on that honours board,” he said.
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