IND vs ENG: Jasprit Bumrah to play all five Tests? Team India coach Gautam Gambhir drops hint, says...
Gautam Gambhir at press conference ahead of England Tour. (PIC - PTI)
New Delhi: As India prepare for a challenging tour of England where they are to face five Test matches without many of their senior players, the captain Shubman Gill and the head coach Gautam Gambhir will need to take some very difficult decisions on the batting and the bowling front.
To begin with, there will need to be an appeal on who will step into Rohit Sharma's opening shoes — Abhimanyu Easwaran or Yashasvi Jaiswal. Whether Karun Nair will be back into the India middle order, and a more difficult one regarding which of the five matches spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will feature in will be decided. Bumrah can be spared only four Tests to plan his workload.
Gambhir said they haven't yet finalised which four games Bumrah will play. But he added that Nair has a strong possibility of playing in the XI as he has performed well of late both in domestic cricket and also for India A.
'We haven't taken that call. A lot will depend on the results of the series, and we will have a discussion with him. That is something that I am sure he is also aware of,' said Gambhir during the pre-departure press conference at the BCCI headquarters here on Thursday.
Asked about not having Bumrah for the entire tour, Gambhir said they have a great mix of bowlers.
'I think we have picked enough bowlers, and we have enough pace bowlers. A lot of the fast bowlers are in a great space to be able to win matches from any situation, any position. Obviously, someone like Jasprit Bumrah, whenever he would play, it would be a great sight for us.
'Always difficult to replace Bumrah, but as I said in the Champions Trophy, it is an opportunity for someone to put their hand up. And there is enough quality there.
'But I think we have a great mix of bowlers, and we have a great set of bowlers. Look, it is always difficult to replace someone like Bumrah. But we have got enough options,' Gambhir said.
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