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Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that England captain Ben Stokes and speedster Jofra Archer were bowling bouncers to Jasprit Bumrah just to hit him on the finger or shoulder to injure him during the third Test match at Lord's Stadium in London.
India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah scored five runs in the second inning of the Test match, but the highlight was that he faced 54 balls and stitched a partnership with Ravindra Jadeja in 193 chase. The majority of balls Bumrah faced during his stand with Jadeja were either short-pitched or bouncers.
"Stokes and Archer planned to bowl bouncers against Bumrah. If he doesn’t get out, hit him on the finger or shoulder to injure him. This stays in the mind of bowlers to injure the main bowler, whom our batters find tough to bat against. This was the plan, which worked later (to get him out)," Kaif said on his YouTube channel as quoted by HT.
However, Bumrah and Jadeja's grit and determination went in vain as England defeated India in the third Test match by 22 runs. With that narrow win, England are currently leading 2-1 in the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.
The fourth Test match of the series will take place from 23-27 July at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. England spinner Shoaib Bashir, who picked up Mohammed Siraj's wicket in the third Test to end India's batting, has been ruled out of the remainder of the Tests. The spinner picked up a finger injury while bowling in the third Test. ECB announced Liam Dawson as his replacement for the upcoming Test.
England squad for fourth Test: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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