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Key Points

India captain Shubman Gill has confirmed pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is available for the second Test against England. The team will decide their final playing combination after assessing the Birmingham pitch. India trails 0-1 in the series after failing to defend 371 runs at Leeds. Bumrah, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings at Leeds, will be playing only three Tests in this series.

Key Points: Gill Confirms Bumrah Available for England Test as India Weighs Combination

  • Gill confirms Bumrah's availability for 2nd Test
  • India trails 0-1 after Leeds defeat
  • Team aims to balance batting depth and bowling strength
  • Bumrah to play only 3 Tests in the series
3 min read

Bumrah available to play, final call on combination to be taken: Skipper Gill ahead of 2nd England Test

India skipper Shubman Gill confirms Jasprit Bumrah's availability but says team will finalize playing XI after assessing Birmingham pitch conditions.

"Bumrah is definitely available to play. We are trying to find a way to manage his workload. - Shubman Gill"

Birmingham, July 1

Ahead of the second Test against England at Birmingham, Indian skipper Shubman Gill said that while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is available to play, the team will take a final call later ahead of the match after seeing the wicket regarding the combination.

He also added that the team is trying to manage Bumrah's workload in the coming games.

The second Test will kickstart from Wednesday onwards at Birmingham. India is trailing 0-1 in the series, failing to defend 371 runs at Leeds, despite scoring five centuries while batting. Bumrah, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, went wicketless in the second and bowled almost 44 overs. In this series, he will be playing only three Tests.

Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match presser, Gill said, "Bumrah is definitely available to play. We are trying to find a way to manage his workload. And yes, we are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on these kind of wickets. We just thought we are going to have a final look today (on the wicket) once we come to the ground and see what kind of combination that we want to go with tomorrow."

Gill also said that the team was aware of the fact that Bumrah would be playing only three games and had decided on several combinations.

"So, you definitely do miss your best bowler if he is not playing. But I think we had that sorted before the series, who would be playing if he were not playing," he added.

Speaking on the team's ideal combination, the captain said that while the team would like to have batting depth till number seven or eight, having it till number nine will affect the ability to take 20 wickets.

"So, it is about finding the right combination for that particular condition and that particular ground. And I think if we are able to go with four or premier bowlers with maybe a sixth bowling option and then have a batting till seven or eight, I think that would be a good combination for us," he concluded.

India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
As an England fan watching from London, Bumrah's absence would have been a relief! His reverse swing is deadly on these pitches. India's bowling looks much weaker without him.
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Ananya R
Why is Gill making these decisions? Shouldn't Dravid and the coaching staff handle workload management? Captain has enough pressure already. Team needs proper specialists for these calls.
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Vikram M
Batting till 8 is fine, but our tail starts wagging only when top order fails! Remember Lord's 2021? Thakur and Bumrah won us that match with the bat 😂 Need proper balance this time!
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Kavya N
So happy to see Gill's mature captaincy! He's thinking long-term about Bumrah's fitness while keeping team balance in mind. After Kohli's aggressive style, this calm approach is refreshing 👏
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Michael C
Interesting to see India's dilemma - in England you need 5 bowlers but their batting collapses often. Tough call for Gill. Maybe play both Jadeja and Sundar as all-rounders?
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Priya S
Bumrah should play only if 100% fit. We have WC coming up and can't risk our best bowler. S

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