Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been released from the squad for the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, played at the Oval in London. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the development on Friday after Bumrah was rested for the final Test to manage his excessive workload in the longest format of cricket.
BCCI released a statement which reads, “Mr Jasprit Bumrah has been released from India’s squad for the fifth Test of the series against England. The fifth and final Test of the series is underway at Kennington Oval, London.”
World No. 1 Test bowler was supposed to play three Tests in this series, which Bumrah had informed the board ahead of the tour.
As reported by The Indian Express, India did make four changes to their playing XI for the final Test: Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Anshul Kamboj and Shardul Thakur missing out while Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep and Karun Nair making it to the XI.
India skipper lost his fifth toss in a row as England won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green-top surface. Indian batters struggled against the English attack, which was assisted by the overcast conditions, as the visitors scored 204/6 at the end of day’s play in 64. Nair and Washinton Sundar remained unbeaten.
On the match eve, there was a point of view that Bumrah might play his fourth Test of the series in Oval despite the team management’s workload considerations and the pre-decided plan to play him just three Tests. That was not to be.
After the team management resisted the temptation to play Bumrah, they threw their weight behind the youngish pace attack led by Siraj. At the end of the first Test that India lost, coach Gautam Gambhir was asked if they would think of giving Bumrah an extra Test, four instead of three, in case the series result was on line. “There will be no compromise on work load,” he had said.
Story continues below this ad
India’s updated squad for fifth Test: Shubman Gill (C), KL Rahul (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK).
