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Star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah once again stole the show during the second day of the Headingley Test against England. He was the bowler who picked up all the three wickets that India took during the day as the hosts finished on 209/3. Ollie Pope scored a remarkable century while Ben Duckett also played a gritty knock of 62 as England wrapped up the day, trailing behind India by 261 runs.
Bumrah carried India's bowling department against England on Day 2
The Men in Blue once again were seen being completely reliant on Bumrah, who was the only bowler that managed to pick up wickets. Except for Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, rest of the Indian pacers proved to be expensive as well with Prasidh Krishna giving away 56 runs in his 10 overs and Shardul Thakur conceding 23 runs in three overs.
Following the conclusion of Day 2, former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik pointed out that there was a huge gap between Bumrah and the rest of the Indian bowlers. He further stated that India have developed a habit of calling the star pacer into the attack whenever they need a wicket.
"There was too much of a void between (Bumrah) and the rest. And you could see England also had it on the back of their minds that, ‘If we play this spell, we’d have a good chance.’ That’s going to put pressure on the skipper because every time he’s under pressure, he’s going to go to Bumrah now. [But, at the same time,] he (Bumrah) has got a body that he has to take care of," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“In a day where there are hardly 60 overs (49) bowled, Bumrah has already bowled 13. Every time you need a wicket, it has to be Bumrah. And he always does it for you, so you get into that habit. Others need to find a way to definitely push the captain and say, ‘I am ready, give me the ball, this is my plan, I want to do this’," he added.
Not only Karthik, but former India head coach Ravi Shastri also expressed concern with Bumrah's workload and remarked that he is the only bowler in the team who picks up wickets in every spell that he bowls.
"The concern is Bumrah and what his workload will be as the series progresses, because he is the one man who is expected to pick wickets every spell he bowls. I just hope someone at the other end puts their hands up," Shastri said after the end of the second day.
Ahead of the England series, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had stated that Bumrah will only be participating in three out of the five Tests as the 31-year-old needs to take care of his body. This came after the pacer sustained a back injury during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 against Australia that kept him out of action from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
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