Mark Wood's Big Claim On Bumrah: 'I Am Telling You He'll Play Both Tests...'
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It's not either Edgbaston or Lord's -- Mark Wood firmly believes that Jasprit Bumrah will play both of the next two Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
England fast-bowler Mark Wood believes Jasprit Bumrah will play both the second Test at Edgbaston and the third at Lord's of the ongoing Anderson-Trophy. Wood, who's recovering from an injury and out till the fifth Test, thinks Bumrah 'got to' play the second game to help India overcome the 1-0 deficit after the first match at Headingley, while he also won't want to miss the chance of getting on the Lord's honors board.
From chief selector Ajit Agarkar to head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill, all confirmed before the series that India will not risk their best bowler beyond three Tests to avoid a serious injury. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Monday that Bumrah was 'available' but added that the team were yet to make a call on him being in the 11 when the match begins on Wednesday.
'He's going to play them two, I am telling you," Wood told Michael Atherton in a Sky Sports show. 'I think he'll play them both… He's got to because they can't afford to go 2-0 down, so you want your best bowler. There's no way he's saying I am not playing at Lord's. I think he'll want to play both games. Let's just say India win the next one and it's 1-1, I still think they'll want him to make the difference to get them ahead. Every overseas bowler wants to get on that board and he'll be the same," he added.
Former cricketer Atheron said India will need him most at Edgbaston and at Old Trafford (fourth Test) but agreed that he won't want to miss the Lord's game.
'In cricketing terms, he should certainly play Edgbaston and I'll say think carefully about Old Trafford because that's the kind of ground where pace and reverse swing is very important but as you say, every cricketer wants to play at Lord's and get on that honors board. So I do think they should play Kuldeep Yadav. I think if they had Kuldeep in the team, they'd have won that (Headingley) game," Atherton said.
If Bumrah doesn't play, India have Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh waiting on the bench.
First Published:
July 01, 2025, 07:47 IST
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