Star Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss the second Test of the ongoing five-match series against England. According to a report in NDTV on Thursday (June 25), which quoted a BCCI source as saying, the 31-year-old fast bowler will miss the second India-England Test in Birmingham as part of workload management. Bumrah bowled 24.4 overs in the first innings of the Leeds Test and 19 overs in the second.
According to the available information, Bumrah will not take the field in Birmingham but is in line to play the third Test against England, which is set to take place at Lord鈥檚 in London from July 10 to 14.
Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh is likely to replace Bumrah in the playing XI for the Edgbaston Test. Arshdeep, who won the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year award in 2024, has never played a red-ball match for India before. In fact, he has earned his maiden India Test call-up for the ongoing series.
It has also been reported that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy will come in for Shardul Thakur. Shardul failed to do much with the bat in the first Test and only bowled six overs in the first innings. He did take two wickets in two balls in the second innings on Tuesday, but it was not enough to impress.
Former India batter and captain Sunil Gavaskar, while speaking on Sony Sports post-day show, had suggested that India should consider playing Bumrah in all five Tests. But India鈥檚 head coach Gambhir turned down the suggestion during the post-match conference on Tuesday (June 24) by saying that they are more concerned about his workload.
鈥淚 think for us, managing his workload is more important because there鈥檚 a lot of cricket going forward, and we know what he brings to the table as well. So, before he came to the tour, it was already decided that he was going to play three Test matches. But let鈥檚 see how his body turns out,鈥 Gambhir told reporters.
Bumrah played all five Test matches for India in the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but suffered a back injury in Sydney during the fifth Test, and because of that, he remained out of action for more than three months.