Ravi Shastri bashes Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir on live TV for resting Jasprit Bumrah: ‘No ifs and buts, he should…’

Ravi Shastri did not hold back in blaming India captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir for Jasprit Bumrah's non-selection in the second Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Calling the decision to rest Bumrah for the second Test after losing the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy opener at Headingley "baffling", Shastri said the captain and the head coach should have made sure Bumrah turned up for the second Test as there was about a week's gap between the two matches. Ravi Shastri slams Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir for not picking Jasprit Bumrah in 2nd Test

Even before the first ball was bowled at Edgbaston, Shastri, who was part of Sky Sports' expert panel, expressed his disappointment over Bumrah's non-selection.

“You have the best fast bowler in the world and you make him sit out after seven days of rest. That is something very hard to believe,” said Shastri, while shaking his head.

Ravi Shastri slams Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir

He was also part of the commentary team, along with former England captain Michael Atherton, when the first ball of the match was about to be bowled.

"It seems a very strange decision to me, Ravi," said Atherton on commentary.

Shastri picked up the microphone and did not waste any time in slamming the Indian captain and head coach. "Very strange and baffling as far as I'm concerned. If he's fit to play, he should play," an Animated Shastri said on live broadcast.

The former India head coach said there should not have been any question about Bumrah's participation in the second Test match if he was fit to play.

"I mean, that decision should be entirely in the hands of the captain and the head coach. Not the entire coaching staff, but only the head coach and the captain," Shastri added.

"And like you mentioned, a week between test matches, this is an important test match, a must-win game for India. If they have to stay alive in the series, then you need your premier fast bowler playing. And no ifs and buts, he should have been playing," Shastri said.

On the eve of the Test match, India captain Shubman Gill confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah was fully fit and available for selection but India might not pick him because of workload management.

The decision was confirmed at the toss on Wednesday. "I think this is an important match for us, but I think the third match of the series being at Lord's, there might be a chance that there might be a little bit more in the wicket than this one, so we thought we'd bring him better now," Gill said.

Even before the start of the series, Bumrah had himself confirmed that he would play only three Tests in the five-match series. After the injury that he suffered in the last Test in Sydney against Australia, the doctors and physios advised him to be extremely careful with his workload. This was also the main reason behind Bumrah not becoming the captain of the Indian Test side after Rohit Sharma's retirement.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir had said Bumrah's workload management would not change even after India lost the first Test.

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