"Gautam Gambhir Must...": Jasprit Bumrah's Test Future 'Going To Be An Issue' As Star Needs 'Long Gap'
If the loss against England in the first Test in Leeds was not enough, the Indian cricket team were dealt another blow as news came that Jasprit Bumrah would be rested for the second Test starting on July 2. BCCI sources confirmed the development to NDTV. Even before India departed for the long Tour of England, it had been declared that Bumrah would play only three of the five Tests due to workload management. Bumrah had been out of team for a lengthy period after a back issue during the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
However, now question are being raised on the future of Bumrah's Test career, considering he is not available for all the matches despite significant gap between them. The first Test ran from June 20-24, while the second match in Birmingham will start from July 2. That's a week's gap. The third Test at Lord's will start from July 10, before the the action shifts to Manchester for the fourth Test starting on July 23. The fifth Test starts on July 31.
"Jasprit Bumrah will not be available. It's not official, but maybe it's official, for all we know. He will be rested for the second match and will directly play the third match, and you wonder, as there was a seven-day gap between the two matches, and he is not playing," Aakash Chopra, former India star, said on his YouTube channel.
"Then there will be a five-day Test and a three-day gap. He will be available on the 10th of July now. That is a serious concern. If you need such big gaps, Bumrah's future as a Test cricketer, it is going to be an issue. Gautam Gambhir must find himself in a tricky position now. There was an old interview, 'I do not believe in workload management' that was Gautam's stand back then. That makes it a little different. He is an important player."
Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh are the two other specialist pacers in the squad. Medium pace allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is another option. Most indications point towards left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh replacing Bumrah in the XI. But again, no one could confirm the development. While Arshdeep has not played any Test, he has ODI and T20I experience. In T20Is, he is India's all-time highest wicket-taker with 99 scalps in 63 games.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
20 minutes ago
- India Today
Hardik Pandya gets emotional on T20 World Cup win anniversary: Did it for my country
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya posted an emotional video on his social media handles, celebrating the first anniversary of India's T20 World Cup 2024 victory. India beat South Africa in the final of the tournament in a nerve-wracking final and ended their 11-year-long drought for an ICC played a key role in India's triumph as he added some quick runs (5 off 2) with the bat lower down the order in the first innings and later emerged as the pick of the bowlers for India, registering figures of 3/20 in three overs. Recalling his performance, Pandya said that he had manifested bowling the last over of a World Cup final and was elated to do the job for the me, playing for the country itself would have been a dream, a blessing, so much more because in 2011 I was on the road. I was doing the same, celebrating the same teams. Always thrived and enjoyed being in this situation. It gets the best out of me. I've always manifested me bowling the last over or me hitting the last run of the World Cup winning play. 6-7-8 months, which I had prior to that really, really proud the way I was able to stand and maybe not show a lot of emotions or how I have been going through. It just came off the pressure of shoulder carrying such weights just came off and I was like finally I did it for the country,' said Pandya in a video shared on his social media handles.A day I'll never forget. A day we'll never forget. For all of us, India hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) June 29, 2025advertisement Pandya orchestrated India's comeback in the match from a precarious position as he dismissed a well-set Heinrich Klaasen (52 off 27) in his second over. Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh also piled on the pressure by giving nothing away in the next two overs. With 16 runs needed to win off the last six balls, Pandya was entrusted to bowl the last over of the the very first delivery of the final over, South Africa's David Miller hit a full toss high in the air towards long-off. However, the southpaw failed to get the distance with the ball dropping just inside the boundary towards Suryakumar, who managed to grab it momentum was taking Suryakumar over the boundary, but he showed great presence of mind to get rid of the ball at the right time as he stepped outside the boundary. He quickly jumped inside to once again grab hold of the ball and completed one of the greatest catches ever in the final of an ICC rest of the batters couldn't do much damage as Pandya successfully defended the target of 177 and set up a seven-run win for India. Virat Kohli was adjudged Player of the Match for his innings of 76 (59) while Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged Player of the Tournament for scalping 15 wickets.- EndsMust Watch
Mint
23 minutes ago
- Mint
After ‘stupid, stupid, stupid' moment in Australia, Rishabh Pant shut off his phone, began ‘most intense training'
Rishabh Pant made a name among the greats of the game as he became only the second wicket-keeper batter in the history of the game to score a a century in both the innings of a Test match. The left handed batter registered scores of 134 and 118 in the two innings of the match but his efforts eventually went down in vain as India failed to defend a total of 371 in the fourth innings. Pant, however, has had a remarkable turnaround having gone from a rare poor spell of form in Test series against Australia earlier in the year to warming the bench in the Champions Trophy and later failing to score big in his maiden outing as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. In Australia, Pant managed to score only 255 runs at an average of 28.33 in the five matches. His innings included just 24 boundaries and 6 sixes which is a rarity for the southpaw who often takes the attack to the bowlers in the longer format of the game. According to a new report by The Times of India, Rishabh Pant realised that something was wrong with his batting after failing with a ramp shot in the first innings of the Melbourne Test — a dismissal which later became infamous due to former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's comment "Stupid, stupid, stupid". From then until he finally demonstrated his true potential in the Leeds Test, it was a long journey for Pant, who had already experienced many highs and lows in his career. In March 2025, the batter uninstalled WhatsApp from his phone and kept his phone switched off unless he needed to contact someone. This was reportedly an attempt to remove the clutter from his mind after going through a chaotic cricketing season. The batter also went through a 'punishing' routine after being benched from the Indian team during Champions Trophy which was described by Soham Desai, India's strength and conditioning coach till before the England series. Speaking to TOI, Desai said, 'He did the most intense sessions, day in and day out. He dragged me into the gym whenever he was free. He didn't care about fatigue or workload programmes. All he said was he needed to keep working on himself. On the day of the final, he came to me with some kind of guilt in his mind and asked if he could take the day off. I said it was high time that he did,' 'Pant has so much in reserve that he will be fine for at least a year without having to do anything extraordinary. That's why you see him moving around so well despite scoring two hundreds and keeping wickets for so long in the Headingley Test,' he added.
News18
27 minutes ago
- News18
England's Jamie Smith: Went After Jadeja In Leeds To Avoid Jasprit Bumrah's Spell
Last Updated: England's batters attacked Ravindra Jadeja in the 82nd over to secure a win in the first Test against India because they wanted to avoid Jasprit Bumrah's spell. England's batters decided to attack Ravindra Jadeja in the 82nd over to quickly secure a win in the first Test, anticipating that India might bring in their key bowler Jasprit Bumrah in a last-minute attempt to claim wickets. With Joe Root and keeper-batter Jamie Smith comfortably at the crease, and the winning target of 371 within reach, Smith sealed the victory by hitting Jadeja for two sixes and a boundary, leading the hosts to a memorable five-wicket triumph. 'The runs at that point (when Smith decided to go after Jadeja) were not too many, so I wasn't expecting him (Bumrah) to come on and bowl (with the new ball), but you're just never quite sure, especially in cricket," Smith told ESPNCricinfo. England's strategy was that if Shubman Gill had brought Bumrah into the attack when the hosts were 355/5 after the 81st over, and if the Indian pacer had managed to take a couple of quick wickets, it could have made things more challenging for Ben Stokes' team. 'You don't know what will happen. I always back our tail but there could be a couple of decent balls and suddenly you're eight-down and the pressure's back on you again. It was nice to just get it done and move on." Smith explained, 'I knew there was a new ball coming and it looks as though I'd exposed Chris Woakes (at No. 8) but, at that point, if I'd hit another couple of sixes in that over, you're taking all the momentum into the new ball." He added, 'The second new ball can bring wickets but it can increase the scoring rate as well. There's always a little bit of calculated thinking behind it." Smith praised India, saying they 'kept trying all day" on the final day, but England's philosophy of keeping it simple in favourable batting conditions helped them cross the finish line. Chasing 371, England secured the victory in the final hour with notable performances from Ben Duckett (149), Zak Crawley (65), Root (53 not out) and Smith (44 not out). 'It was simple in that you knew you had to chase the runs and we weren't going to block out for the draw," Smith said. 'We were always going to be positive and try to get the runs. It was a rapid outfield and as good a batting conditions as you could have on day five." 'The wicket wasn't misbehaving too much as the Test went on, so you always felt as though you could keep it simple, you didn't have to do anything too out of the box to get the runs, which is very helpful," he said. Smith did not pay much attention to the talk about the inexperience in the Indian side. 'When they're trying to get 10 wickets and you're chasing 370, it's not every day that gets done. There could have been some head-downs at the end but they kept trying all day," he said. 'I see a lot of chat about maybe some inexperience on their part but I thought they were fantastic throughout the five days." Smith mentioned that the support from the team management to play aggressively had boosted his game. 'It's great. Having that belief from other people is something that definitely took my game to the next level," he said. 'When you're out there batting, it is you and your partner at the other end, so it's quite individual, but to have that backing and trust that other people are doing the same thing, you don't feel you're alone when you're doing what you feel is right at that moment." 'When you are caught on the boundary trying to hit the ball for six, you feel you're not going to get a slap on the wrist. (The attitude is) 'mate, that was a good option, the wind was howling that way'," he said. (With PTI Inputs)
