India had initially hoped Jasprit Bumrah would participate in all five Tests of the England tour, but to prevent any further risk of injury, this will not be the case. Bumrah participated in all five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but suffered a back injury during the last match. Another similar injury could be a major blow to his career, and India cannot afford that risk.
Before the England tour, the decision was made that Bumrah would only feature in three of the five Tests. In the first match, he made an immediate impact with a five-wicket haul. Although he went wicketless in the second innings, he was still the best bowler for India, with the others struggling.
Despite his standout performance, there were calls for Bumrah to play all five Tests, but after the first Test defeat, coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that the pacer would appear in just three matches.
This statement from Gambhir left former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra confused. He felt that the Indian coach could have kept the opposition uncertain about Bumrah’s involvement, suggesting that if Bumrah plays in the second Test, England would know he would only appear in one of the remaining three, which would allow them to adjust their pitch preparations accordingly.
“Bumrah mentioned he would only play three matches, and I’m wondering whether it was really necessary to make that public. Why not keep it under wraps? We don’t announce our team beforehand, so why repeatedly emphasize before the tour that he would feature in only three Tests? Let them speculate. Play whichever matches you want,” Chopra said.
“You’ve played one match, and now you know you can only feature in two of the remaining four, which isn’t ideal. If you play the second one too, it means you’ll only be available for one of the last three. This gives the opposition a psychological advantage, knowing that Bumrah, your main strength, won’t be playing. They can start preparing their pitches accordingly,” he added.