Indian team management’s decision to leave Jasprit Bumrah out of the playing XI for the second Test against England at Edgbaston has stirred a debate.
Despite trailing 0-1 in the five-match series and a week-long gap between the first and second Tests, Bumrah was rested as part of the workload management.
However, the decision has put the Indian think tank under scanner, with no one facing more backlash than head coach Gautam Gambhir.
The plan was always going to make Bumrah play three Tests and Gambhir had said that it won't be altered despite the loss in the series opener at Headingley.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara opposed Gautam Gambhir's school of thought, suggesting that Bumrah was a must for the Birmingham Test.
“Interesting to understand how the decision is being made and who makes it? Is it after a consultation with the players or the physios? It depends on whether the Lord’s Test is more important than the series? The series is on the line. If we see the score, it’s an even day, perhaps a little bit more tilted towards England with the five wickets down. So I would have expected the coach to have gone to Bumrah and say ‘Yes, we thought you might play the 3rd and the 5th Test, but we’re going 1 and 2. Take a look if you can play the third if you can, because then you’ve got two weeks off before the next one,” Sangakkara said.
The visitors made three changes to their playing XI for the second Test, which kicked off on Wednesday (July 2). Apart from Bumrah, and Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur were replaced by Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy, respectively.
As a result, three all-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy – are featuring in the lineup along with three specialist bowlers – Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
While too much chopping and changing suggest that India have pressed the panic button, Sangakkara reckons there's more to it. He strongly feels that Gambhir is carrying the baggage of India’s poor Test record under his coaching stint.
India’s graph in the longest format has gone down drastically under Gambhir, winning just three of 11 Tests so far. Before the Leeds Test defeat, India conceded the away Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 to Australia and also suffered a humiliating first-ever home whitewash at the hands of New Zealand.
“It’s not just a reaction to the last Test. I think there is a bit of chat about the last 9-10. Seven losses, one win, one draw. There is a little bit of baggage as well to turn that pattern around. So there was a lot of pressure and they were looking at this game and thinking ‘alright, what can we do?’ and they ring in all the changes," Sangakkara remarked.
