Gautam Gambhir believes India will be in deep trouble if Jasprit Bumrah gets injured.
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has suggested the India team management should rest Jasprit Bumrah for the second Test against England in Chennai.
The southpaw's thinking behind resting the pacer is that Team India will need him for the third Test in Ahmedabad, which will be a Day/Night affair.
The Indians bowlers had to bowl 190.1 overs to the English batsmen in the first innings of the first Test keeping themselves on the field for more than 2 days. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma bowled 36 and 27 overs respectively.
Gambhir fears that if the pitch for the second Test is similar to the current one and the Indians might have to be in for a similar effort, Bumrah has a high risk of getting injured.
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Gautam Gambhir told ESPNCricInfo, "100 percent, absolutely. I'm not even sure whether Bumrah should be picked for the second Test match. I think India should preserve him for the pink-ball Test match. See, Jasprit Bumrah is an X-Factor in the series, irrespective of what surfaces to play on and you've got to keep that in mind too."
The 39-year-old also had a suggestion to use Bumrah in short bursts in order to pick wickets rather than making him bowl longer spells. According to the former Indian opener, the Mumbai Indians pacer is going to be very important for Team India going ahead into the series.
"Jasprit Bumrah you can't just keep bowling for longer sessions. Give him that short burst of three overs to try and pick a quick wicket, but not long spells because Bumrah is going to be very important going forward in the series. And if something happens to him, India is going to be in serious trouble," Gambhir added.
Jasprit Bumrah picked 3/84 in the first innings picking the wickets of Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence, and Dom Bess.