No Jasprit Bumrah In Combined India vs England XI: "The Greatest Doesn't Get In The Team"

NDTV

5 days ago

Jasprit Bumrah played only three of the five Tests against England in the recently-concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Before the Indian team left for England, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir had said Bumrah wouldn't feature in more than three Tests on tour due to workload management, especially after picking up a back injury in the Sydney Test against Australia in January this year.
Bumrah featured in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds, followed by the third and fourth games at Lord's and Old Trafford, Manchester, respectively. In three games, Bumrah picked 14 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls, coming off bowling 119.4 overs at an average of 26. Bumrah wasn't included in the playing eleven for the fifth Test at The Oval and was subsequently released from the squad ahead of day two's play.
While Bumrah missed two crucial matches, both of which India won, Mohammed Siraj stepped up. So, it was not entirely a surprise when a group of former England players got together to pick a combined XI of the two teams and Bumrah missed out. Former England cricketers Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, David Lloyd (Bumble) and Phil Tufnell were part of the group.
Here's how the conversation went.
Vaughan: We're going to pit our composite team of the series.
Tufnell: Little Ducky is my favourite.
Bumble: Duckett and KL Rahul.
Vaughan: No, Yashasvi Jaiswal?
Tufnell: No, Duckett Rahul for me. Yeah, I'll have him. Just for the punch up. He's always there. He's always there, isn't he, Little Ducky? Who are you having? He's always there.
Vaughan: I do like Duckett.
Cook: No, Ducky's definitely in. Depends if we want two... Well, I... Smashing, like, as in, like... Attacking left-hander will go one and one.
'The greatest bowler I have ever seen doesn't get in the team!!'
Who would make your England v India team of the series? pic.twitter.com/xFdC3JeAyh
— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) August 11, 2025
Vaughan: Well, can we... Can we have Yashasvi at number three? You've just mentioned three openers. Can we have... If not, who's going to bat at three?
Tufnell: Well, hold on a minute. We've got to get Shudman, Gill, Root and Brook in there. They're bankers. And Stokes. Yeah, and Stokes at six.
Bumble: We can't have them all there. We can't have them all.
Cook: No, Shubman Gill can back three, can't he? Let's go Gill at three, Root four, Brook five.
Vaughan: No, Yashasvi?
Tufnell: Let's just get them down and we can slot them in afterwards.
Bumble: He doesn't get in. Sorry, mate.
Vaughan: Well, Root... Shubman Gill and Root four and five, yeah?
Cook: Yeah, three and four.
Vaughan: Three and four?
Cook: I don't know how else you get them all in.
Bumble: Well, Stokes at six. Captain.
Vaughan: Rishabh Pan at seven. Yeah, all right, that's the keeper.
Bumble: Jadeja eight.
Tufnell: Jadeja eight.
Cook: Oh, you reckon? Well, I'm just thinking, mate.
Vaughan: What about Washington Sundar 's offspin with his drift?
Cook: Are you going with Jadeja? You've got six wickets, 150, didn't he?
Vaughan: Well, Siraj at 11.
All agreeing: Yeah. Siraj 11. Let's go Siraj. Yeah.
Bumble: Gus Atkinson!
Cook: He's only played one game.
Tufnell: I'm going to throw one in there as a bowler… Josh Tongue.
Vaughan: 19 wickets. Only played three matches. Big fella, the hoover. Hoover's up the tail.
Cook: I'm just trying to think of who else. Are we having Bumrah?
Tufnell: Oh, I forgot that (laughs).
Vaughan: Well, I have him as the greatest I've seen, but... He's the greatest bowler I've ever seen. In this series, I can't have him in. Because he's played two games and they haven't won.
Bumble: Let's get this straight. The greatest bowler I have ever seen doesn't get in the team.