Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the second Test against England at Edgbaston to manage his workload.

On his return at Lord’s, Bumrah returned with a five-wicket haul in England’s first innings. He also contributed with the bat - facing 54 balls for 5 runs and forging a crucial 25-run stand for the ninth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja that brought India agonisingly close to a famous win.

Having lost the third Test by 22 runs, India are now 1-2 behind in the five-match series. It remains to be seen whether the ace pacer will participate in the fourth Test at Old Trafford or not.

After the Lord’s Test, India skipper Shubman Gill remained tight-lipped on Bumrah’s availability for the penultimate Test. However, former all-rounder Irfan Pathan wants the strike fast bowler to play in Manchester with the series on the line.

“Every team management wants their best player to feature in every game, but the workload management also depends on the bowler’s fitness—whether he is feeling tired or not, whether there are any other complications. But there is a nine-day gap in between, and that should be more than enough for recovery. Since it’s a series-decider, he must play, unless there’s an injury,” Pathan told Sportstar.

In Bumrah’s absence, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep spearheaded India’s bowling at Edgbaston. Prasidh Krishna failed to make an impact and so was Shardul Thakur in the series opener.

And that’s why, Pathan believes Bumrah must feature in the penultimate game of the five-Test series.

“This is the biggest five-match series that you would play abroad in this World Test Championship cycle, and in such a crunch situation, changing too much isn’t ideal—neither for the management nor for the fellow bowlers. In conditions like these, Bumrah’s presence adds a lot of value,” he remarked.

Ever since Jasprit Bumrah sustained a back spasm in the Sydney Test against Australia, the Indian team management has been extra careful about managing his workload.

As a result of that injury, he missed the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the initial few matches of the IPL 2025 season for Mumbai Indians.

Ahead of the England tour, 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 due to workload management.