Massive blow to India's hopes with Jasprit Bumrah set to miss Edgbaston Test against England: Report

Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t expected to play more than three out of five Tests in the tour of England. The reported decision to withdraw the star pacer from the lineup, however, comes two days after the Shubman Gill-led side suffered a five-wicket defeat at Headingley. read more

Jasprit Bumrah was set to play no more than three Tests in the tour of England due to his strict workload management in the aftermath of a recent back injury. AP

In a huge blow to India’s hopes of pulling off a series leveling victory after their five-wicket defeat at Headingley , Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the second Test against England that is set to get underway next week at Birmingham’s Edgbaston.

Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t expected to play all five Tests in England anyway due to concerns over his workload after his recent back injury, with head coach Gautam Gambhir having recently confirmed that the star pacer would stick to the plan of playing a maximum of three Tests.

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However, the stunning loss in Leeds on Tuesday, in which India failed to defend a challenging target of 371 on the fifth day of a riveting battle, has left the Shubman Gill-led visitors in a precarious position, one where a second consecutive defeat could virtually end their hopes of winning the rebranded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

India reportedly keen on having Bumrah available for Lord’s Test

And according to NDTV, Bumrah – who had collected his 14th Test five-for at Headingley with a haul of 5/83 in the first innings – will sit out of the second Test that gets underway on 2 July, with the team management hoping to have him fresh for the third Test at Lord’s from 10 to 14 July.

India had picked Prasidh Krishna and seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur in addition to Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for the series opener in Leeds, with Ravindra Jadeja selected as the sole spin option.

Bumrah had bowled a total of 43.4 overs across both innings in the series opener at Headingley. And though he went wicketless in the second innings, he looked the most threatening of the Indian bowlers, with the English batters playing him cautiously and attacking the bowlers from the other end during their chase.

With Bumrah set to sit out of the Edgbaston Test, the Indian team management might be inclined to hand Arshdeep Singh his Test debut. Though Arshdeep is yet to represent India in the elite five-day format, he already is an established member of the T20I setup as a death-overs specialist and has also been impressive in ODIs.

Also Read | English media hails Jasprit Bumrah as ‘most complete fast bowler of all time’

India are also likely to bring Nitish Kumar Reddy in place of Thakur, who hardly contributed with bat or ball in the first Test, in order to strengthen their batting lineup. Prasidh Krishna is likely to be retained despite leaking runs at over six-an-over at Headingley, especially in Bumrah’s absence.

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The development also comes at a time when England have further strengthened their pace department with the addition of express pacer Jofra Archer – who has not played Test cricket since the tour of India in February 2021.

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