Returning to Jasprit Bumrah’s question again: will India choose him in the fourth Test against England in Manchester or will he be rested until the final game at the Oval? A perfect answer should come before the start of the fourth Test on July 23, but India hinted on Thursday that they are “leaning” towards Bumrah playing at Old Trafford.
“No, we’ll still make that call [on Bumrah] in Manchester still,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said after the squad’s one-off training session in Beckenham before the visitors head to Manchester on Saturday. “We know we have got him for one of the last two Tests. It’s pretty obvious that the series is on the line now in Manchester so there will be a leaning towards playing him.”
“But again, we have got to look at all the factors: how many days of cricket are we going to get up there, what do we feel is our best chance of winning that game, and then how that fits in together with The Oval. And looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series.”
For Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Bumrah reached England with a predetermined plan, made with mutual understanding with the BCCI medical team, that he will play only three out of the five Tests to ensure his back health, as he underwent a medical surgery in March 2023.
He was not included in the second Test at Edgbaston, he played in the first Test where he picked up a five-for in the first innings and got zero wicket in the second as England lead the series with 1-0.
As there was an eight-day gap between the third Test match but still Bumrah was not playing in Birmingham that created a lot of criticism. Despite his absence, India levelled the series with 1-1 at Edgbaston.
India’s fast bowlers are balancing between their workload and fitness as they are preparing for the upcoming Test. Bumrah and Siraj leading with bowling for extensive overs, also Siraj’s 109 runs, fourth highest score in the series and the leading wicket taker with 13 at 32. The challenge for India’s team management is that now they have to focus on the fitness of their both leading bowlers Bumrah and Siraj.
On a recent rest day, all three fast bowlers were on rest Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep. However Siraj batted that day.
On Thursday, Rishabh Pant didn’t play, while he was focusing on light training. Pant had to recover completely from the left index finger injury while he was diving to stop a ball during England’s first innings at Lord’s. However, he batted in both innings but he was not able to do wicket keeping after injury, so Dhruv Jurel did his role of wicketkeeper.
“He [Pant] will bat in Manchester before the Test,” ten Doeschate said. “Look, I don’t think you’re going to keep Rishabh out of the Test no matter what. He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test and it’s only going to get easier and easier on his finger. And keeping’s obviously the last part of the process to make sure that he can keep. We don’t want to go through that again where we have to replace the keeper halfway through the innings.”
