India to make the Bumrah call ‘at the very last minute’

Jasprit Bumrah is fit and available for the second Test against England, but India are not giving away whether he will play at Edgbaston, given he is likely to feature in only three of the five fixtures in the series.

India are also all but certain to play two spinners at Edgbaston, given the patchy grass on the pitch, which is dry underneath.

The second spinner, though, could be off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar as India seem worried about batting depth.

“Bumrah is ready to play,” India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said two days before the Edgbaston Test.

“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. I’m talking about weather, 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, 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 what we know we do have from him.”

The weather forecasts in England are best not taken as gospel, but there is rain predicted on days one, four and five.

There is a chance, given the flat nature of pitches in England of late, that the weather might not leave the teams enough time for a result.

Keeping that in mind, India could be thinking of preserving Bumrah for later in the series.

They also believe the dry nature of the pitch brings their slower bowlers into play. “It’s just which two we play,” ten Doeschate said.

“And that goes back to juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi is batting very nicely. So it’s just which combination do we go with? The allrounder-spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And obviously you have to play the bowling allrounder again.

“So there are so many different variables. The wicket has got 11 mils [mm of grass] at the moment, 11 or 12, I can’t remember which of the two, but it’s quite grassy and patchy. It’s quite dry underneath, but there’s also rain forecast for Wednesday, so again trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attack-wise, but I’m pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test.” (ESPNcricinfo)