Shubman Gill breaks silence on whether Jasprit Bumrah will play 2nd Test vs England: 'He is definitely available but...'

India captain Shubman Gill confirmed Jasprit Bumrah is available for selection for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, beginning Wednesday, July 2. However, the final call on his participation will be taken later in the day once the team management has reviewed the 22 yards dished out for the contest. The 31-year-old will be playing just three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as it was confirmed earlier. India captain Shubman Gill confirmed Jasprit Bumrah is available for selection for the second Test against England at Edgbaston. (AP)

The No.1-ranked ICC Test bowler, Bumrah, dished out 43.4 overs in the series opener in Headingley. There was daylight between Bumrah and the rest of the seamers (Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur). The rest of the three pacers conceded runs at a brisk pace and were unable to create any sort of pressure.

Bumrah took five wickets in the first innings but failed to take a single wicket in the second innings. Shubman Gill seemingly managed Bumrah's workload in the middle of the Test, as he was not asked to bowl even when England were 85 runs away from the target of 371.

“Jasprit Bumrah is definitely available. We just need to see how we manage his workload in the upcoming Test matches. We are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on this kind of wicket. We will take a final look at the wicket today and then think about our final combination we want to go with tomorrow," Gill told reporters on the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

In the first innings of the Headingley Test, Bumrah bowled 24.4 overs while in the second, he delivered 19 overs. When he returned with five wickets, there were calls for him to play all five Tests. However, India head coach Gautam Gambhir put all suggestions to rest, saying there would be no change of plans as the pacer would just be playing three matches.

Also Read: India risk 'losing Jasprit Bumrah forever' if he plays Edgbaston Test: 'He has a young family

Speaking about the same, Gill said, “We knew prior to the series that Jasprit Bumrah would be playing three Tests, so we had all the possible combinations we might go in with, looking at the wickets. You definitely miss your best bowler if he is not playing, but we had that kind of sorted before the series started.”

“It is definitely difficult. But the team we have picked. These are the best players in India. We have picked the best 15-16 players in India. It is not like an impossible task; the other bowlers have also performed well. We have a good talent pool, and this is the main reason behind us competing well overseas," he added.

Gill also said that it has not been pre-decided which games Bumrah will play, as the situation continues to remain fluid and the management is taking it one game at a time.

“It was not pre-decided because there was a gap between the first and second Tests. If the first two Tests were together and then there was a gap, then it would have been pre-decided. But because there was a gap, we thought we would see how the Tests go. We didn't want to go into the series pre-deciding into that,” said Gill.

Bumrah's workload management

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

Due to the back injury, Bumrah missed the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025and the initial few matches for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition.

Ahead of the series against England, Bumrah revealed 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 against England owing to workload management.

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