Follow UsAhead of the start of India’s tour of England 2025, Indian senior men’s selection committee chair Ajit Agarkar alerted everyone that Jasprit Bumrah, because of his workload management, would play only three of the five Tests.
However, India lost the first Test, and in that game, no other Indian bowler looked even half as threatening as Bumrah did. As a result, it has become a catch 22 situation for the Indian management.
Not playing Bumrah would mean exposing the already weak bowling attack and playing him could imply that India would have only one more game for him to play. Winning the series would therefore become very difficult with Bumrah not being available for two of the last three Tests.
However, to boost the chances of there being a possibility of him playing four matches, Bumrah was seen bowling during India’s optional training session at Edgbaston, Birmingham on June 28 (Saturday) where the second Test is to be played.
According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, the 31-year-old bowled for nearly half an hour. During the Friday net session, Bumrah hadn’t bowled.
Among other players who were part of the optional training session, only four of the squad members were not seen and all four of them were centurions from Headingley - KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
The bowlers were also given special batting net sessions, making sure that India wouldn’t suffer collapses similar to what they did in both innings of the Headingley Test.