Bumrah will feature in three of the five Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Tests, as decided earlier.
On the eve of the second Test against England at Edgbaston, India skipper Shubman Gill addressed query on ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s participation in the all-important match.
There are question marks over Bumrah’s participation for the second Test with several reports claiming that he’s likely to be rested by the team management to manage his workload.
Amid the uncertainty, Gill confirmed that Bumrah is available for selection for the Birmingham Test but the final call on his participation will be taken later in the day after reviewing the 22 yards.
The Indian pace spearhead will feature in three of the five Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Tests, as decided earlier. The tourists are trailing the marquee series 1-0, having lost the first game at Headingley by five wickets.
“Jasprit Bumrah is definitely available. We just need to see how we manage his workload in the upcoming Test matches. We are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on this kind of wicket. We will take a final look at the wicket today and then think about our final combination we want to go with tomorrow," Gill told reporters in the pre-match presser on Tuesday (July 1).
Bumrah bowled 43.4 overs across the two innings in Leeds. While the No. 1 ranked ICC Test bowler claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, he went wicketless in the second essay as English batters played him with caution.
There were calls for him to play all five Tests, but India head coach Gautam Gambhir put all suggestions to rest, saying there would be no change of plans as the star fast bowler would just be playing three matches.
Speaking on the same line, Gill said, “We knew prior to the series that Jasprit Bumrah would be playing three Tests, so we had all the possible combinations we might go in with, looking at the wickets. You definitely miss your best bowler if he is not playing, but we had that kind of sorted before the series started.”
“It is definitely difficult. But the team we have picked. These are the best players in India. We have picked the best 15-16 players in India. It is not like an impossible task; the other bowlers have also performed well. We have a good talent pool, and this is the main reason behind us competing well overseas," he added.
Gill also clarified that it was not pre-decided which games Bumrah will play. “It was not pre-decided because there was a gap between the first and second Tests. If the first two Tests were together and then there was a gap, then it would have been pre-decided. But because there was a gap, we thought we would see how the Tests go. We didn't want to go into the series pre-deciding into that,” the captain remarked.
Ever since Bumrah sustained a back spasm in the Sydney Test against Australia, the team management has been extra careful about managing his workload.
As a result of that injury, the right-arm quick missed the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the initial few matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 season.
Ahead of the England series, Bumrah revealed that he himself requested the BCCI not to consider him for Test captaincy after Rohit Sharma's retirement, as he would not be able to play all five Tests against England owing to workload management.