Former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri is unhappy with the Indian team management for resting star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test against England.
Shastri, speaking:
“You have the best fast bowler in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest. It’s very hard to believe.”
India is trying to level the five-match Test series after losing the first match in Leeds. Shastri pointed out that India’s recent Test form hasn’t been great—they’ve lost three matches to New Zealand, three to Australia, and now the first one against England. He believes this second match is very important.
Bumrah is being rested as part of a plan to play only three out of the five Tests, and Akash Deep has been given his spot. This will be Akash’s first Test of the year.
“This becomes a very important Test match” 👀
Ravi Shastri on the impact of Jasprit Bumrah missing the second Test 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/df2Y7sXWDA
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2025
There are other changes too:
- Nitish Kumar Reddy, a batting all-rounder, has replaced Shardul Thakur, who didn’t perform well in the last match.
- Washington Sundar, an off-spin all-rounder, is also included to help strengthen the lower-order batting, which collapsed badly in the first Test (41-7 and 31-6).
- Sai Sudharsan, who scored only 0 and 30 on debut, has been dropped. Karun Nair is now promoted to bat at No. 3.
In this second Test at Edgbaston, England won the toss and chose to bowl first. The pitch is good for batting, and India had to bat first. India’s captain Shubman Gill also said he would have chosen to bowl first.
It’s worth noting that England chased down 371 runs in the fourth innings to win the last Test, and even chased 378 runs at Edgbaston against India back in 2022.
Also, India has never won a Test match at Edgbaston in the eight times they’ve played there since 1967.
