Saving Jasprit Bumrah for Lord's is ridiculous by India

Telegraph

20 hours ago

Ben Stokes played a straight bat. 'Their choice,' he said bluntly, when asked about India's selection for the second Test at Edgbaston. But behind the steely stare, the England captain must have been jumping for joy, for India had left out Jasprit Bumrah, one of the great fast bowlers in Test history.
It is a baffling decision to headline a fudged selection. Bumrah is delicate, of course, and a heavy workload across five Tests in Australia eventually saw him break down in Sydney. He cannot be expected to play all five Tests in this series, coming as thick and fast as they do.
India have bizarrely telegraphed that Bumrah will only play three. But the second, at Edgbaston, simply had to be one of them. India are 1-0 down, having lost a game they could and should have won at Headingley. They have been very clear that he is fit and available for the match, but they have left him out.
Ravi Shastri, who was a very fine coach of India, could not believe it. 'You have the best fast bowler in the world and you make him sit out after seven days' rest. It's something very hard to believe and I can't agree with it.'
Bumrah had a big workload at Headingley, bowling 43.4 overs, more than any other seamer in the game. He was the outstanding bowler on show, and was devastating in the first innings, if neutered a little in the second. But since, he has had a full week off to rest up for this challenge.
The official reason given by the captain Shubman Gill is that India are 'managing his workload'. He continued: 'This is an important match for us, but the third match being at Lord's, we thought there might be a bit more in the wicket than here.'
There are two reasons saving Bumrah for Lord's is wrong-headed. The first is that their series is hanging by a thread; lose at Edgbaston and it will be as good as gone. As England learnt the hard way in the 2023 Ashes, coming back from 2-0 down is nigh on impossible.
India's handling of Bumrah is reminiscent of England's muddled shuffling of their bowlers in the 2021/22 Ashes. Mark Wood was their best bowler in the first Test at Brisbane, but was then rested at Adelaide. By the time he returned for the final three Tests, England were toast. There is little point in any of Bumrah's three Tests in this series being once it is lost.
The second is that the flat pitch at Edgbaston is actually more reason to play Bumrah. He is the one quick on either side with the skill to take the surface out of the equation. India have other decent seam bowlers, who have caused England trouble in the past, but none like him.
There is no guarantee that the Lord's pitch will have anything more in it than Edgbaston, even if the slope is always helpful for quicks, especially those as awkward as Bumrah. Alas, the sense is that there is sentimentality involved in this decision. Bumrah, like all visiting Test players, wants to play at the Home of Cricket, because of its prestige, and the allure of a place on the hallowed honours board. Bumrah has played one previous Test at Lord's, in 2021, the most memorable moment of which was his no-balls to Jimmy Anderson late on the third day. But he took three vital wickets on day five; enough to drive India to victory, but not enough to get on the honours board.
India's selection more widely felt a total fudge, and very confused. Once they had decided to leave out Bumrah, surely the brilliantly tricksy left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav's case for inclusion grew even stronger. Instead, they played it safe, packing the batting by picking the off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar. India should forget that their tail was blown away in Leeds, and instead concentrate on picking their most dangerous bowlers in order to take 20 wickets. They dropped the coming man, Sai Sudharsan, and did not even gamble on the uncapped Arshdeep Singh's left-arm pace.
They may have stumbled upon a magic formula, and could still win at Edgbaston, especially if they hold their catches. But the sense is that they have made their job so much harder than it needs to be.