India face 'last-minute' Bumrah call as they bid to level England series
India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah
India will make a "last-minute" decision on whether to risk the outstanding Jasprit Bumrah in successive Tests as they look to level their five-match series with England this week.
Bumrah is the world's top-ranked Test bowler and, ordinarily, his selection for a match starting at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground on Wednesday, would be an obvious move following India's five-wicket loss in the series opener at Headingley.
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Bumrah, however, is returning from a back injury, with the fast bowler saying before the series he only expected to feature in three of the five Tests against England.
Opener Ben Duckett's 149, as England made light of a seemingly stiff chase of 371, underlined the lack of support for Bumrah after the spearhead quick took 5-83 in the first innings but no wickets at all in the second.
"Bumrah is ready to play," India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate told reporters on Monday.
"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."
India, who have now lost seven of their 11 Tests under coach Gautam Gambhi, could alter the balance of their attack by bringing in left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't feature at Headingley. Yadav has taken 56 wickets at 22.16 in 13 Tests.
Batting collapses of 7-41, after they had been 430-3, and 6-31, from 333-4, proved costly for India at Headingley as they became the first side in more than 60,000 first-class matches to score five individual hundreds and still lose.
They were also hindered by some woeful out-cricket with a series of straightforward catches going to ground, two of them off Harry Brook who was dropped off a no-ball before he had scored and then had lives on 46 and 82 as he went on to make a vital 99 in England's first innings.
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Shubman Gill, in his first match as India captain, led from the front with 147 in the first innings, and the good news for a team without retired skippers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is that ruthlessness with the bat is a quality that can be acquired.
So too is authority in the field, with Rishabh Pant -- who scored two hundreds at Headingley -- and fellow century-maker KL Rahul too often looking as if they, rather than Gill, were calling the shots.
"At one point I felt there were too many captains," former India spinner Murali Karthik told Cricbuzz. "I just couldn't understand that. KL Rahul was making hand movements, Rishabh Pant was also doing it... There is only one captain."
England, buoyed by achieving the tenth-highest fourth-innings chase in Test history, in what former skipper Michael Vaughan said was a display of "Bazball with brains", named an unchanged team on Monday.
Home wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who won the first Test with a six to finish on 44 not out, said at a media event staged by series sponsor Rothesay after last week's win: "I think the really important thing is for the team to be quite ruthless and once you're on top, try to put them to bed."
England lacked new-ball penetration in the first innings but their bowlers improved during the game.
Nevertheless, they have resisted the temptation to recall Jofra Archer and so end the express fast bowler's four years of injury-induced Test exile after naming the Sussex paceman in their Edgbaston squad.
Instead veteran all-rounder Chris Woakes, leading an attack without retired pace greats James Anderson and Stuart Broad, will look to bolster his tally of 182 wickets in 58 Tests on his Warwickshire home ground this week.
"I played a lot of my England games with Jimmy and Broady so it is different not having them around but also it's a great opportunity for myself," said Woakes, 36.
"I've enjoyed that role so far and it's good to pass on some knowledge to the younger guys that haven't played as much Test cricket."
