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Jasprit Bumrah’s availability in the Manchester Test has still not been made clear by the team management but with the match a must-win for the visitors to stay alive in the 5-match Test series, all signs point towards the speedster playing in the game. Former India player Deep Dasgupta also feels that the speedster will be in line to lead India’s pace lineup at Old Trafford.
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“Bumrah should be ready to go. There has been a fair amount of rest in between matches. With India trailing 1-2, you would expect him to play,” Dasgupta said to PTI.
Bumrah’s workload management has been a topic of much conversation in the ongoing Test series. India’s decision to let Bumrah sit out the second Test was met with a flurry of criticism but then incidentally, that has ended up being the only match India has won thus far.
At the end of that Test at Edgbaston, Shubman Gill replied with a simple “Definitely” when he was asked if Bumrah will play the next Test at Lord’s. However, after the end of the Lord’s Test, which India lost despite a lengthy and dogged resistance of more than 50 overs from their lower order including Bumrah, Gill was more circumspect when asked the same question. “You’ll get to know soon,” is what he said.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir had been clear before the start of the series that Bumrah will only play three matches and reiterated the same after India lost the first Test at Headingley. “Haven’t decided which two matches Bumrah will play but he will play total of three. We need to manage his workload. Scoreline doesn’t change that… he will play three Tests only,” Gambhir had said.
But experts like Irfan Pathan and Anil Kumble has opined that the speedster must play the 4th Test.
“I would certainly, if I’m part of that group, push Bumrah to play the next game,” Kumble told JioHotstar after the third Test. “That’s crucial. If he doesn’t play and then we lose the Test, that’s it—the series is done and dusted. I think Bumrah should play both the remaining Tests. I know he’s said he’s going to play only three, but there’s a long break after this. He doesn’t have to play the home series—he can take a break if needed. But I believe he should be out there for the next two.”
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