India to make the Bumrah call ‘at the very last minute’

Cliff Notes – India to make the Bumrah call ‘at the very last minute’

• Jasprit Bumrah is fit for the Edgbaston Test, but India’s management will decide his participation based on pitch conditions and weather forecasts.
• India is likely to field two spinners due to the dry nature of the pitch, with Washington Sundar being a potential choice to bolster batting depth.

India to make the Bumrah call ‘at the very last minute’

Jasprit Bumrah is fit and available for Edgbaston, but India are not giving away if he will play this Test or the next as part of the three he has said he will play in this series. They are also all but certain to play two spinners given the patchy grass on the surface, which is dry underneath. The said second spinner, though, could well end up being Washington Sundar as India seem worried about the batting depth.

“Bumrah is ready to play,” India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said two days before the Edgbaston Test. “It’s how we manage these four Tests. So if we feel like there’s value in playing him in this Test, we’ll make that call at the very last minute. I’m talking about weather, how the pitch is going to play, are we better off holding him back for Lord’s and maybe Manchester or The Oval? So it’s all those factors, but you’ve seen him train yesterday, he trained a little bit today. It’s not like he’s not fit to play. It’s just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of what we know we do have from him.”

The weather forecasts in England are best not taken as the gospel, but there is rain around on days 1, 4 and 5. There is a chance, given the flat nature of pitches in England of late, that the weather might not leave the teams enough time for a result. Keeping that in mind, India could be thinking of preserving Bumrah.

They also believe the dry nature of the pitch allows them extra striking ability with their slower bowlers. “It’s just which two we play,” ten Doeschate said. “And that goes back to juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi is batting very nicely. So it’s just which combination do we go with? The allrounder-spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And obviously you have to play the bowling allrounder again.

“So there are so many different variables. The wicket has got 11 mils [mm of grass] at the moment, 11 or 12, I can’t remember which of the two, but it’s quite grassy and patchy. It’s quite dry underneath, but there’s also rain forecast for Wednesday, so again trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attack-wise, but I’m pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test.”

At the start of the series, captain Shubman Gill had said he was prepared to play four tailenders in order to go for 20 wickets as cheaply as possible, but ten Doeschate did seem to suggest that it was easier said than done. When asked how seriously they have considered that option, especially given how they have struggled with that balance ever since the start of the Australia tour, ten Doeschate said: “We have [discussed playing four tailenders]. And when you’re 430 for 3, it’s absolutely fine, but when you’re 200 for 5, it’s a very different ball game.

“So, in terms of, managing the strategy there, we’re looking at each bowler individually, what we feel they can get wickets wise, and then it’s just trying to balance up and trying to calculate as best you can what the best chance of getting into the Test match, but you need 20 wickets. So the attacking part is obviously finding someone who can get wickets as well, and we are grappling with that. We don’t stop talking about that. We’re trying to figure it out.”

Ten Doeschate: Reddy is ‘very close to getting a game’

After Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped three catches in Leeds, India rejigged their slip cordon during their practice session. The first three slips remained the same – Karun Nair, KL Rahul and Gill in the same order – but Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy alternated at fourth slip and gully. Ten Doeschate said the change-up had nothing to do with Headingley but was about developing all-round fielders, freeing Jaiswal for short-leg practice. However, he did say that Reddy was back in contention. Shardul Thakur, preferred to Reddy in Leeds, ended up bowling only 16 overs and didn’t contribute with the bat.

“He’s very close to getting a game,” ten Doeschate said. “Obviously, he was fantastic in Australia, coming into the team and playing the way he did. We just felt that on balance, for the last game, we wanted to go with the bowling allrounder, which we thought Shardul was slightly ahead on the bowling front. We’re looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle here so we can get a batting allrounder in and obviously Nitish is our premium batting allrounder at the moment. So I would say he’s a very good chance to play this Test.”

Not having a proper seam-bowling allrounder has been a serious headache for India, who have not had any joy trying to juggle batting depth and bowling penetration. On top of that, the unfortunate scenario of Bumrah’s availability for just three Tests doesn’t help them. When asked if there was a temptation to play Bumrah just because 2-0 can be extremely difficult to come back from, ten Doeschate said: “It is, but we also feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit, and then again, that’s putting the eggs in the back end of the series. We’re going to need him at some stage as well. You have got to decide when you’re going to play your strongest suit.

“And that’s what I was talking about the weather and all that, but we feel that whatever we put out there, we can compete in this Test match, and you know, we came pretty close without Jasprit in the second innings when he didn’t get any wickets, and you can’t win the Test series with just one bowler in any case, and the bowlers are very well aware of that they need to chip in with wickets. Sorry, I can’t give you a more firm answer, but we’ll work out in the next 48 or 24 hours how we’re going to manage Jasprit.”