Former England batter David Lloyd has questioned India’s tactics to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the ongoing second Test match against England. Bumrah was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the first innings of the opening Test at Leeds, Headingley as he bagged a five-wicket haul (5-83).

Lloyd said Bumrah should have played after a week’s break if he is fit. Indian captain Shubman Gill revealed on Wednesday at toss that they want to manage Bumrah’s workload and would rather play him at Lord’s than at Edgbaston, where the pitch is a featherbed. Bumrah was replaced by Akash Deep in the playing XI.

“Let’s talk about Jasprit Bumrah. If you are the best bowler in the world, your team is trailing and you’ve just had a week off, you should be fit, firing and ready to go again,” Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

“The plot thickens. Has Jasprit said ‘I’ll miss this Test and play at Lord’s’ or have the Indian medics said he’s not ready to play? There’s an air of mystery. I’m old school. If you’re a cricketer, then play cricket,” he added.

The former Lancashire all-rounder slammed India’s think tank for adopting a defensive approach in the second Test. India has strengthened their batting unit by including Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar after dropping Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur. 

“India made three changes and what I’m hearing is that their camp would be happy to get to Lord’s, just one-nil down. They lengthened the tail after the collapses at Headingley and my interpretation is that they’ve loaded this team with batters and would be happy with a draw. If you get into that mindset before you’ve even started, you’re shooting yourself in the foot,” he wrote.

At lunch on Day two, India were 419-6 with Shubman Gill batting unbeaten on 168.