Jasprit Bumrah a 'jewel' in Ajit Agarkar's eyes but told to play Edgbaston Test: 'If you're selected for entire tour...'

Heading into the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, it was already decided that World No.1 bowler Jasprit Bumrah would be playing just three Tests in the five-match series against England. Ever since the 31-year-old went down in the Sydney Test against Australia due to a back spasm, the team management has been extra cautious in managing Bumrah's workload. India are 0-1 down in the series, and giving the speedster a rest in the upcoming Edgbaston Test would mean the visitors running the risk of going 0-2 down. Should Jasprit Bumrah play the Edgbaston Test? Irfan Pathan has his say. (Action Images via Reuters)

Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna both lacked bite in the series opener, hence Bumrah becomes all the more important. If the ace speedster does not feature in the upcoming contest, then either Akash Deep or Arshdeep Singh are likely to get a nod in.

Bumrah bowled 43.4 overs in the Headingley Test, taking five wickets. All of his scalps came in the first innings. In the second innings, the pacer failed to take a single wicket, and this was the main reason behind the hosts chasing down 371 to gain a 1-0 lead in the series.

In the build-up to the second Test, all the chatter has been about whether Bumrah would play the match or not. All signs are leading to India fielding a playing XI without the bowling maestro.

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Former India pacer Irfan Pathan, who represented the team in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is, reckons Bumrah should be playing the second Test, which begins Wednesday, as this will give the side a solid chance of levelling the five-match series.

"For me, ideally, if you are selected for the whole tour, you need to be playing all the matches unless you are injured, unless you have niggles. But managing workload is a tough one for Team India and the selectors. Because Team India and selectors are thinking that he is a jewel of our country, and you don't find that many. So you need to look after them. So this is what is happening at the moment as far as the team management is concerned," said Pathan while replying to a Hindustan Times query during a media interaction organised by the Sony Sports Network.

"And that's why the whole talk of him playing 3 Test matches. Look, personally, from an outsider point of view, you would want Bumrah to sometimes bowl even from both ends. But that's not realistically possible. But I think he should play. That's my personal view. If he plays, we are in a much better position. But this is what it is. This is where we are. We are in a zone where people talk about workload, managing the guys and taking care of the body as well. I think on the other side, even for a coach, it's so tough," he added.

Following Bumrah's performance in Headingley, Sunil Gavaskar and Cheteshwar Pujara requested Bumrah to play all five matches. However, after the loss in the opener, India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed there would be no change in plans as Bumrah would feature in just three Tests.

Irfan Pathan sympathised with the team management, saying he understands the situation with Bumrah as he is a “jewel” and no one comes close to his skill set.

“If you ask any coach where Bumrah is playing, be it a league or a Test cricket, one-day cricket, T20, you would want him to play all the matches. But is that going to happen? I think it's a tough one. For me, I personally would want him to play,” said the former India all-rounder.

Lower-order needs to step up

In the series opener, India suffered lower-order collapses in both innings of the Test. In the first innings, India lost seven wickets for 41 runs, while in the second, the visitors gave away their last six wickets for just 31 runs.

The collapses were the major reason India gave away the advantage to Ben Stokes and co. Pathan reckons India's lower order needs to step up in Edgbaston if they are to level the five-match series.

“The most important thing for India is to sort out their lower-order batting. In the last game, what I noticed was that twice there were situations where we had the chance to seal the game. It can happen once, but it shouldn't be happening twice in the same match,” said Pathan.

“Lighting shouldn't be striking twice, but it happened for Team India. We need to sort this out,” he added.

Irfan Pathan also stated that he would prefer Washington Sundar to come into the playing XI for the second Test. He added that the call would be harsh on Kuldeep Yadav, but he advocated for India to have more batting cushion as well.

"If Kuldeep Yadav comes back at number eight, then obviously that leaves you with a longer tail. This is where the Indian team is in a big dilemma. It's not an easy decision. It's a tough decision, and I see that happening in future. It might happen that India will say, okay, we're not getting results. We might want to go for proper five bowlers, which includes Kuldeep Yadav. That might happen," said Pathan.

"And that might be what we have to do. I think in the last few Test matches, if you look at it, we just went down like a pack of cards as far as the lower-order batting is concerned. So I think they need to sort that out first. If that doesn't work, then you can think of Kuldeep Yadav. But look, Kuldeep Yadav is sitting out against England, especially against those who like to play Bazball. It's a tough, tough call on him as well. It's a tough one. But you need to look at the team combination as well," he added.

Watch 2nd Test Between India & England on July 2nd, 3:30 PM onwards LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 1 & Sony Sports Ten 5 channels.

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