Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri questioned the team’s think tank for not playing Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test match against England. Bumrah was rested for the second game despite a seven-day break after the conclusion of the opening Test.

Shubman Gill revealed at toss that they are not playing Bumrah to manage his workload and the Lord’s pitch for the third Test will be expected to aid the fast bowlers more than the trackat Edgbaston.

Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings of the opening Test as he returned with figures of 5-83. Shastri said the second Test match is crucial for the context of the series as India can not afford to trail by 2-0.

Ravi Shastri said on Sky Sports, “If you look at the run India has had, this becomes a very, very important Test match. You’ve lost 3 against New Zealand, you’ve lost 3 against Australia, you’ve lost the first test match here, and you want to get back to winning ways, and you have the best fast bowler in the side in the world, and you make him sit out after 7 days of rest, you know, it’s something very hard to believe.”

“They’ve had a week off. I’m a little surprised that Bumrah is not playing this game. I think it should be taken out of the player’s hand. It should be the captain and the coaching staff that should decide who should be playing, and if this is an important game in the context of the series, he should be playing this game more than anything else. Lords can come later.”

On the other hand, former South African gun fast bowler Dale Steyn also shared his surprise after Bumrah was left out of India’s playing XI.

Steyn wrote on X, “So Portugal have the best striker in the world in Ronaldo and they chose not to play him. Thats madness. That’s like India having Bumrah and choosing not to play, umm, him… wait, oh, no, what! shit I’m confused.”

Meanwhile, India ended the opening day’s play at 310-5 after Shubman Gill scored an unbeaten knock of 114 runs.