By Gokul Nair
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch questioned Team India’s decision to bench both Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav for the crucial second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. The visitors made some radical changes to their playing XI after the recent defeat at Headingley, Leeds, but controversially included the likes of Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar into the mix. Given that India were 0-1 down in the five-match affair, the second Test became a crucial point in the series. However, with only a three-day break for the third Test at Lord’s, Bumrah’s participation became doubtful due to workload management. Additionally, the lack of potency in the rest of the bowling attack and the conditions on offer prompted India to play a second spinner. But India decided to go with Washington Sundar as the option to extend their batting over a specialist X-Factor option in the form of Kuldeep Yadav. The Men in Blue stacked their lower middle-order with all-rounders to end with six bowling options in the end, but at the expense of the absence of two of their most potent bowlers. Aaron Finch felt that Bumrah should have been part of the playing XI since there was a one-week gap between the series opener and the second Test. “If Bumrah was fit to play then surely you need to pick the best bowler in the world? At the very least Kuldeep has the be in the XI if you鈥檙e worried about taking 20 wickets. Yes, he might be more expensive but he鈥檚 the next best attacking option!” the former skipper posted on X. Team India were put into bat once again by Ben Stokes at the toss. The visitors are placed at 98-2 at Lunch on Day 1, with KL Rahul and Karun Nair departing at either end of the first session. “I鈥檓 little surprised Bumrah is not playing this game” – Former India coach Ravi Shastri baffled with team selection for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test It was a well-documented fact that Jasprit Bumrah would be available to play in only three matches in the series. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had asserted the same when the squad was picked, while head coach Gautam Gambhir echoed the sentiment despite the Men in Blue falling behind in the series in Leeds. Shastri, however, felt that Bumrah should have played the second Test, given how important the contest is for the series as well as India’s red-ball fortunes. 鈥淭his is a very important match, they鈥檝e had a week off. I鈥檓 little surprised Bumrah is not playing this game. It should be taken out of the player鈥檚 hand. It should be the captain and the head coach that should decide who should be playing the 11. This is an important game in the context of the series, he should be playing this game more than anything else. Lord鈥檚 can come later. This is the important game where you have to counter-punch almost straightaway,” Shastri said on Sky Sports (via Indian Express). “You鈥檝e lost the first Test match here and you want to get back to winning ways. You have the best fast bowler in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest, it鈥檚 something very hard to believe,鈥 he added. In the absence of Bumrah, right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj spearheads the bowling unit, and has Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep for support at the other end.