England vs India: Jasprit Bumrah doubtful for the first Test

The Indian team landed with arguably their best pace bowling attack in England. Not just for the Tests but the attack for the T20I and ODI series had enough teeth to trouble the Brits. However their lead bowler in white-ball cricket Jasprit Bumrah sustained an injury in the 1st T20I against Ireland and that ruled him out first from the ongoing T20I series against England, then the ODI series and he might as well have to miss out the first Test of the five-match series.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) added Deepak Chahar to the T20I team as Bumrah’s replacement. Once it was confirmed that he will fly back to India and not take part in the ODIs they announced that Shardul Thakur who was in England with the India A team will join the squad for the 50-overs series in place of the Gujarat pacer.

Bumrah, while fielding off his own bowling in the Ireland T20I was hit on the left thumb and it is said to be a hairline fracture. Such an injury usually takes four-six weeks to recover fully and be match fit. He is in India and trying to get fit as soon as possible. It is still a tough race against time for him to be match fit before the first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham that starts August 1.

The right-arm pacer though termed a limited-overs specialist has been the team’s preferred pace bowler on overseas tour. He was a part of the team and the playing XI in the three-Test series they played against the Proteas in South Africa. Bumrah played all the three matches and though it took him some time to get used to the red ball but was soon effective. He ended the series with 14 wickets which included a five-wicket haul.

His unorthodox action and ability to move the ball into the right-handers and take it away makes him a tricky customer in conditions that assist seam bowling. They will play five matches against England and the faster bowlers need to be rotated in such a long assignment. It will be interesting to see how the team management uses Bumrah once he is available for selection.

The Test series gets underway on August 1 with the first match at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

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