Jasprit Bumrah has been declared fit and available for selection ahead of the second Test against England at Edgbaston. However, India remain undecided on deploying their pace spearhead immediately, with the team management keen on managing his workload across the five-match series.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed the pacer's readiness but admitted a final call would be made based on multiple factors including pitch, weather, and long-term planning.
“Bumrah is ready to play,” said ten Doeschate. “It's how we manage these four Tests. So if we feel like there's value in playing him in this Test, we'll make that call at the very last minute. I'm talking about weather, how the pitch is going to play, are we better off holding him back for Lord's and maybe Manchester or The Oval?”
“It's not like he's not fit to play. It's just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of what we know we do have from him.”
Spin Likely To Play A Big Role At Edgbaston
The pitch at Edgbaston appears dry underneath despite some grass cover, with rain forecast for multiple days of the Test. India are almost certain to go with two spinners, though the second option may lean toward a batting allrounder in Washington Sundar rather than a specialist.
“I'm pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test,” ten Doeschate confirmed. “The wicket has got 11 mils [mm] of grass at the moment—quite grassy and patchy. It's quite dry underneath, but there's also rain forecast for Wednesday. Again, trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attack-wise.”
Washington Sundar, who is bowling well and offers extra depth with the bat, is being seriously considered.
“All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi is batting very nicely. So it's just which combination do we go with? The allrounder-spinner or the out-and-out spinner? You have to play the bowling allrounder again.”
India’s batting depth remains a concern as they continue to seek the right balance between attack and stability. While Shubman Gill had earlier indicated a willingness to play four tailenders to ensure a strong bowling unit, ten Doeschate admitted the idea isn't always practical.
“We have [discussed playing four tailenders]. And when you're 430 for 3, it's absolutely fine, but when you're 200 for 5, it's a very different ball game. We're trying to calculate the best chance of getting into the Test match, but you need 20 wickets. The attacking part is finding someone who can get wickets as well.”
Reddy Back In Contention, Slip Cordon Shuffled
India also made changes to their slip cordon during training, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sai Sudharsan rotating at fourth slip and gully, as Jaiswal—who dropped three catches in Leeds—moved to short leg for practice. Reddy, who impressed on the Australia tour, could return to the XI in place of Shardul Thakur, who had minimal impact at Headingley.
“He's [Reddy] very close to getting a game,” ten Doeschate revealed. “Obviously, he was fantastic in Australia, coming into the team and playing the way he did. We just felt that on balance, for the last game, we wanted to go with the bowling allrounder, which we thought Shardul was slightly ahead on the bowling front.”
“We're looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle here so we can get a batting allrounder in, and obviously Nitish is our premium batting allrounder at the moment. So I would say he's a very good chance to play this Test.”
Managing Bumrah’s Workload Remains Priority
India’s long-standing struggle to balance bowling penetration and batting depth continues, particularly without a reliable seam-bowling allrounder. Bumrah, who is likely to feature in only three of the five Tests, becomes a high-stakes asset to be used judiciously.
“It is [tempting to play Bumrah now], but we also feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit,” said ten Doeschate. “Then again, that's putting the eggs in the back end of the series. We're going to need him at some stage as well. You’ve got to decide when you're going to play your strongest suit.”
He added, “We feel that whatever we put out there, we can compete in this Test match. We came pretty close without Jasprit in the second innings [at Headingley] when he didn't get any wickets. You can't win the Test series with just one bowler. The bowlers are very well aware they need to chip in with wickets.”
“We’ll work out in the next 48 or 24 hours how we're going to manage Jasprit.”
