Ben Stokes, the captain of England, dismissed the discussion about Jasprit Bumrah's availability for just three of the five Test matches as "India's problem" on Tuesday. He stated that he expected the "passionate" visitors to put up a strong fight in the second Test, regardless of the makeup of their squad.

At Leeds, where the Shubman Gill-led team lost from a strong position, Bumrah was by far the best Indian bowler. Because of their variable lengths, players like Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Prasidh Krishna were unable to put the England batsmen to the test.

Which three Test matches Bumrah would play in over the English summer has not yet been decided by India. He is scheduled to play in two of the next four Test matches after making an appearance in the opening one.

However, Stokes and his team are unfazed by Bumrah's availability and remain focused on extending their series lead.

"That's India's problem. They will deal with it. I am captain of England," Stokes said when asked about Bumrah.

"Good team. They always fight hard, come hard. Very passionate team," he said when questioned about the trailing Indian side.

"It's pretty clear that there's always pressure on the shoulders of international sportsmen, but playing for India, especially in cricket, there's probably a bit more than any other nation. So, yeah, a very proud nation. Don't take anything for granted from last week. We start at 0-0 again,” Stokes added.

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Despite playing little cricket over the last six months because of injuries, Ben Stokes was England's top bowler at Leeds. His inquisitive outbursts during the series opener suggest that he is in better shape than before.

Asked how his ageing body is holding up, Stokes replied, "I feel better now than I did on Thursday and Friday (laughs). Everyone was very tired that week. It was a big week; we were on the field and bowled for another five days, so yeah, big week for everyone. I used the three days after that game to offer absolutely nothing to the world.

I was a shadow of myself, but it goes to show how much a five-day Test match takes out of you. I was pretty tired, but I'm all over that now and ready to go tomorrow."

On whether he is back to his best, he added, "I did everything possible to not worry about anything outside of what we normally worry about. But coming out of that game, feeling good in all of my spells, rhythm-wise, being able to back up spells throughout the day.

But I managed to maintain my pace, which was one of the things I wanted to concentrate on."

(ANI inputs)