Shubman Gill opens up on Jasprit Bumrah's availability in third Test against England at Lord’s

India on Sunday defeated England by a massive margin of 336 runs to win the second Test match at Edgbaston. With this victory, the five-match series is now level at 1-1, and both teams will head into the third Test with a clean slate.

One of the main questions for India ahead of the third Test at Lord’s is the availability of Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah missed the second Test to manage his workload, and Akash Deep was included in his place.

Akash Deep impressed everyone with a brilliant bowling performance that helped India claim all 20 wickets in the match. He picked up a 10-wicket haul at Edgbaston, including a six-fer in the final innings to bowl England out in dominant fashion.

Mohammed Siraj also delivered in Bumrah’s absence, taking a total of seven wickets in the match, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings. Meanwhile, fans are wondering whether India will change their winning combination to bring Bumrah back into the playing XI for the third Test at Lord’s.

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Will Bumrah play the Lord’s Test match?

Indian skipper Shubman Gill addressed the question during the post-match presentation at Edgbaston. When asked whether Bumrah will play the third Test, Gill gave a straightforward response: “Definitely.”

Bumrah will most likely be included in the playing XI for the third Test, and for that, India will have to drop someone. Prasidh Krishna might be the one because of his poor performance in the series thus far. He picked up just one wicket in the second Test, which came in the final innings when he managed to remove Chris Woakes.

England are also expected to make a couple of changes to their playing XI for the third Test at Lord’s. They have added Gus Atkinson to their squad for the next match after bringing in Jofra Archer earlier in the series.

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England know that the momentum has now shifted in favour of the visitors and they must bounce back strongly to prevent India from inflicting further damage.

Meanwhile, the last time India and England met at the Lord’s, the visitors handed a crushing defeat under the leadership of then captain Virat Kohli. Mohammed Siraj was the standout bowler for India in that game.