New Delhi: After the 31-run defeat in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Edgbaston, there is more bad news in store for skipper Virat Kohli. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to win the race against time to be fit for the second Test that starts at the historic Lord’s on Thursday.
Despite his fractured thumb, the national selectors had picked him in the Test team for the first three games and had said that he would be considered for the second and third Test. But CricketNext has learnt from sources in the know of developments that there could still be some time before Bumrah is a 100 per cent and ready to take the field. While Bumrah has been bowling regularly at the nets and keeping ready for when he can get onto the field, the thumb will need a little more time before he can bat, bowl and field with ease.
The BCCI while naming the squad for the first three Test had said: “Jasprit Bumrah who has been included in the squad, will be available for selection from the 2nd Test onwards based on his fitness.”
Even though the Indian bowlers did a good job otherwise, the inconsistent performance from Umesh Yadav will definitely be a matter of thought for the team management. In 24 overs in the two innings combined, he gave away 56 runs in the first innings at 3.29 and the English batsmen scored 20 runs off his seven in the second innings at 2.86. He picked just 3 wickets in a game that was dominated by the fast bowlers.
Bumrah was injured during the first T20I against Ireland and while he was with the team till the end of the series, he returned home during the ODI series against England after undergoing surgery in UK. He was back with the Test squad when the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Cheteshwar Pujara flew in to join the Test squad before the warm-up game against Essex.
With the Lord’s known for its slope and the way it aids seam movement off the wicket, the angled-in action of Bumrah could have been more than a handful for the English batsmen, as on display during the third Test between India and South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg earlier in the year.
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