What to expect from Gautam Gambhir & Shubman Gill ahead of Edgbaston?

CHENNAI: During the journey from England’s north to the midlands, the Indian management will have been deep in thought with respect to the situation surrounding Jasprit Bumrah. He’s the ultimate plug and play operator in world cricket but there’s also the question about his workload.

The allure of a Lord’s Test may see Bumrah missing out from featuring at Edgbaston in the second Test, beginning next Wednesday. Even otherwise, Edgbaston has become a very Bazball ground. Since the beginning of 2022, teams average over 35 while scoring at 4 runs per over (average below 29 and 3.72 are the corresponding Lord’s numbers). So, the smart money is on the management giving their star pacer a break as they manage his workload and fitness. It’s kind of understandable why they want to be extra careful with him: he’s already had a couple of big injuries, with the one in Sydney coming earlier this year.

“I think for us to manage Bumrah’s workload is more important because there’s a lot of cricket going forward and we know that what he brings to the table as well,” coach Gautam Gambhir had said after the first Test. “So before he came on this tour, it was already decided that he’s going to play three Test matches, but let’s see how his body turns up. But we haven’t decided which two other Test matches he’s going to play.”

If Edgbaston, the venue where Bumrah captained India in a Test in 2022, is where he will get one of his two breaks, the one obvious question pertains to the make up of the bowling unit. The closest like for like replacement in terms of taking the new ball is Arshdeep Singh but they are different bowlers. But that will just be the one of the many jigsaws the think-tank will have to think about.