India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate broke the silence on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the second Test against England. India head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar earlier said that Bumrah won't feature in the five Tests of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy 2025, considering his workload management.
After India's five-wicket defeat in the first Test match, there are speculations that Bumrah will miss the second Test which will take place from 2-6 July at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. However, assistant coach Doeschate revealed that Bumrah is available for selection since the team got enough time after the second Test, but the management has yet to make a decision to add him to the playing XI.
“He's available for the game, obviously. We know from the start he's only going to play three out of the five. He's obviously had eight days to recover from the last test. But given conditions, workload, and how we think we can best manage for the next four games, we haven't made a call on that,” said Ryan ten Doeschate.
“We're going to see what the other guys are with their workload as well. So technically, yes, he's available,” he added.
The India assistant coach further said that Bumrah is fully fit and there are no injury concerns, but it is just about managing his workload and thinking about the bigger picture.
“With Bumrah, he is ready to play. It's how we manage these four tests. So if we feel like there's value in playing him in this Test, we'll make that call at the very last minute. But I'm talking about whether, how the pitch is going to play. Are we better off holding him back for Lord's and maybe Manchester or the Oval? So it's all those factors,” said Doeschate.
“But you've seen him train yesterday, he trained a little bit today. It's not like he's not fit to play. It's just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of him, out of what we know we do have from him,” he added.
Bumrah was India's pick of the bowlers during the first Test match as he picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings that helped India to take a slight six-run lead. The speedster was economical in the second innings as well, but unable to pick any wickets as England defeated India to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test match series.
If Bumrah will be included in India's playing XI for the second Test and picks up a five-wicket haul, then he will equal Pakistan great Wasim Akram's record for the most five-wicket hauls (11) by an Asian bowler in SENA countries. Bumrah currently has 10 across South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia.