Cricket-India's omission of Bumrah causes widespread bafflement
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) -As India went into the second test against England on Wednesday without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, former players and coaches questioned the thinking behind resting the world's best bowler when they trail 1-0 in the series.
Bumrah took five wickets in the opening game at Headingley as England struggled to handle his pace and movement but the 31-year-old was rested with an eye on the third test at Lord's starting four days after the match at Edgbaston.
Bumrah has been trying to manage his workload due to back problems, the primary reason why he did not want to be considered for the test captaincy, while coach Gautam Gambhir said he would play only three out of the five tests.
"This is an important match for us but the third match at Lord's -- there may be something more in the wicket and we thought we'll play him (Bumrah) there," India captain Shubman Gill said at the toss where England put India in to bat.
But dropping Bumrah, who is ranked number one among test bowlers, left former India coach Ravi Shastri fuming.
"If you look at the run India has had, this becomes a very, very important test match," Shastri said on Sky Sports.
"You've lost three (in a row) against New Zealand, you've lost three against Australia, you've lost the first test match here, and you want to get back to winning ways.
"You have the best fast bowler in the world and you make him sit out after seven days of rest? It's something very hard to believe."
Former Australian cricketer and coach Tom Moody said the decision to rest Bumrah was "baffling" and that picking several all-rounders to add batting depth after the tail collapsed in Headingley could backfire.
India dropped Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur from the lineup, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep coming in.
"No Bumrah is one thing, but to only have five specialist batsmen is a gamble," Moody said on X.
"The fixation on all-rounders who are there to offer depth with bat and ball has never worked. Specialists are always going to offer more over a test."
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain said India may have panicked despite playing well at Headingley where they scored five centuries but were let down by poor catching.
"At times, Bumrah was unplayable. It was the catching and the collapses. They were the two areas of concern," he said.
"And the collapses, they've tried to put right by having batting depth without actually improving their bowling."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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