Questions over Bumrah linger as ten Doeschate says 'strong chance of playing two spinners'

Birmingham: Ever since the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said Jasprit Bumrah won’t play all the five matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series while announcing the squad, the buzz has been all about what games the ace fast bowler would play. The post-match press conference at Leeds was mostly about the fast bowler’s availability and the routine followed ahead of the second game here on Monday.

The anxiety amongst the Indian media, even English also, at Edgbaston grew because the 31-year-old didn’t bowl at all in the opening half of the training session which was open to the media for the first time. Bumrah, following the basic warm-ups and fielding drills, spent a long time just chatting with head coach Gautam Gambhir while his colleagues Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep bowled. 

Bumrah then left the ‘nets’ without bowling a single ball, stoking speculations that he could give the second Test, staring on Wednesday, a miss and play the third (July 10-14), due to be held at Lord’s. Bumrah, however, returned after an hour for a short bowling stint.

Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, addressing the media, came prepared for the volley of questions on Bumrah but didn’t confirm whether he will play or not. “Yeah, he is available for the game obviously. We know from the start he is only going to play three out of the five. He has obviously had eight days to recover from the last Test,” said Doeshate.

“Given conditions and workload and how we think we can best manage the next four games, we haven't made a call on that. As you know the guys have been away for a while. So technically, yes, he's available. It's how we manage his core testing. If we feel like there's value in him playing in this Test, we'll make that call at the very last minute. I'm talking about how the pitch is going to play, are we going to hold him back? So it's all those factors.”

The summer has been brutal in England this year and talks are that the Edgbaston wicket too will be batting friendly like the Leeds strip but a lot more drier, meaning spinners could have a lot more say in the second half of the Test. When asked if there’s a chance Kuldeep Yadav could be picked, Doeschate said the team is considering playing two spinners.

“There's a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It's just which two we play, and that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting deck. All three spinners are bowling very nicely, watching the batting very nicely. So, it's just which combination to go with. All-rounder spinner or the out-and-out spinner. So, there's so many different variables.

“The wicket has got 11 mills (mm of grass) up at the moment, 11 or 12, I'm not sure which of the two, but it's quite grassy and patchy. It's quite dry underneath. There's also rain forecast for Wednesday, so, again, we're going to try to weigh up the two options of how long the bowling attack is.”