India’s top pacer Jasprit Bumrah is fit for selection for the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. But his team management is not yet ready to make a categorical decision on whether he will be part of the playing XI. The 31-year-old pace leader is likely to play only three games of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Having already bowled 43.4 overs in the first Test at Headingley, his availability for the second game would depend on workload issues.
“He’s available for the game, obviously. We know from the start he’s only going to play three out of the five. He’s obviously had eight days to recover from the last test. But given conditions, workload, and how we think we can best manage for the next four games, we haven’t made a call on that,” said Ryan ten Doeschate.
“We’re going to see what the other guys are with their workload as well. So technically, yes, he’s available,” he added.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate addressed the media on Monday, confirming that Bumrah is fully fit and has no injury concerns. However, he emphasized that managing the pacer’s workload is a priority, keeping long-term goals in mind. Ten Doeschate acknowledged the strong temptation to play Bumrah in Birmingham but said the final decision would hinge on assessing his overall fitness.
“With Bumrah, he is ready to play. It’s how we manage these four tests. So if we feel like there’s value in playing him in this Test, we’ll make that call at the very last minute. But I’m talking about whether, how the pitch is going to play. Are we better off holding him back for Lord’s and maybe Manchester or the Oval? So it’s all those factors,” said Doeschate.
“But you’ve seen him train yesterday, he trained a little bit today. It’s not like he’s not fit to play. It’s just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of him, out of what we know we do have from him,” he added.
“It is tempting, but we also feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit. That’s putting the eggs in the back end of the series. We’re going to need him at some stage as well. You’ve got to decide when you’re going to play your strongest suit,” he said.
“We feel that whatever we put out there, we can compete in this Test match. We came pretty close without Jasprit in the second half. He didn’t get any wickets. But you can’t win the Test series with just one bowler in any case. And the bowlers are very well aware of that, that they need to chip in with wickets. Sorry, I can’t give you a more firm answer. But we’ll work out in the next 24 hours how we’re going to manage Jasprit,” he added.
The spinners have also been chosen by the coaching staff to play two for the Edgbaston Test. Ravindra Jadeja was the lone spinner in the first game, but a second spinner is now being considered. Both Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav are in the running, although no one knows who will accompany Jadeja.
“There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It’s just which two we play. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi’s batting very nicely. So it’s just which combination do we go with? All-rounder spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And obviously, you have to play the bowling all-rounder again. So there are so many different variables,” said the assistant coach.
Also on the verge of making his Test debut is young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has impressed in practice and was lauded for his performances in the recent Australia series.
“He’s very close to getting a game. Obviously, he was fantastic in Australia. Coming into the team and playing the way he did. We just felt, on balance, for the last game, we wanted to go with the bowling all-rounder. We thought Shardul was slightly ahead on the bowling front. We’re looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle,” said Doeschate.
“So we can get a batting all-rounder in. And obviously, Nitish is our premium batting all-rounder at the moment. So I would say it’s a very good chance to play this Test,” he added.
