 "Jasprit Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings of previous Test. Image: Reuters")
India’s playing XI for the second Test against England at Edgbaston is still not final, with the biggest question being whether Jasprit Bumrah will play. The premier fast bowler had already said that he will feature in only three out of five Test matches in the series owing to workload management.
Final call on Bumrah tomorrow
Before the second Test, there were several reports suggesting that Bumrah may miss out from the Edgbaston match. Now, it has emerged that the team management is still uncertain and will take a final call on his inclusion in the next 24 hours. India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said Bumrah is available for the game but they are looking at other factors like the weather and pitch conditions.
“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.
“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 weather, 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,” he added.
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India went with only one spinner in the first Test at Leeds. They lost the match by 5 wickets and went 1-0 down in the contest. Doeschate said the team is almost certain to go in with two spinners in the second Test. Ravindra Jadeja is a definite starter, while the second spot could go to either Kuldeep Yadav or all-rounder Washington Sundar.
“There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It’s just which two we play. And that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi’s batting very nicely. So it’s just which combination do we go with? All-rounder spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And you have to play the bowling all-rounder again. So there’s so many different variables,” Doeschate said.
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“The wicket’s got 11 mm grass on at the moment. 11 or 12 mm. But it’s quite grassy and patchy. It’s quite dry underneath. But there’s also rain forecast for Wednesday. So again, trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attacking-wise. But I’m pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test,” he added.