Ravi Shastri Urges India To Rest Jasprit Bumrah In Second Test Against England

India's former head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Jasprit Bumrah, who is currently fighting like a lone warrior in India's bowling unit, should now be given some rest in the second Test against England. Before the start of the five-match Test series, everyone was informed that Bumrah will not be playing all five Tests; he will be able to play only three Tests, and all these decisions have been taken to manage his workload.

Keeping this in mind, Shastri has assumed that Bumrah would be ready to play at Lord's, so there are more chances of him being given some rest in the second Test. In the first test, India faced defeat against England by 5 wickets, due to which England is leading 1-0 in the five-match test series. He said that India can also lead 2-0 if Bumrah is not made to play in the next test, and the fast bowler and team management have been asked to take a decision accordingly.

The former head coach said,

"Bumrah said he will play three Test matches. Now, which of the three will he play? That is another question that needs to be asked. I think if he takes a break, it will be the next one, because he will definitely want to play at Lord's, right? And there is a break, and then you go to Lord's, then there is a break, and then there is a choice between Manchester and that. It could be 2-0 behind. So that is the problem. I think he has to play."

Further, Shastri said that India will have to bounce back in the second test match anyway, keeping in mind the fact that India lost the last two test series against New Zealand and Australia, and losing against England will be very bad news for them.

He said,

"It will be a tough pill to swallow because I was just telling him in the commentary box that we lost 3-0 against New Zealand and lost a series in Australia. Now, it's a tough series. You had a chance to go a step further here, you know. England has problems with their bowling attack; they have injuries. And you've wasted it. And now it's time to catch up."

"You have to go and show some real character. And the knockout punch has to come in the next Test match. If that doesn't happen, you're really looking down. So whenever there's a counterpunch, you're looking down. It has to happen immediately. So he has to understand that"