Ravi Shastri was unreserved in his criticism of India's head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill for not selecting Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. "Baffling" is how Shastri described the decision to rest Bumrah after losing the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy opener at Headingley. He felt the head coach and captain should have ensured Bumrah showed up for the second Test because there was a week or so between the two matches.
Shastri, a member of Sky Sports' expert panel, expressed his disappointment at Bumrah's non-selection even before the first ball was bowled at Edgbaston. “You have the best fast bowler in the world and you make him sit out after seven days of rest. That is something very hard to believe,” said Shastri, while shaking his head.
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He and former England captain Michael Atherton were both on commentary when the game's opening ball was set to be bowled. "It seems a very strange decision to me, Ravi," said Atherton on commentary.
Shastri continued his criticism and added: "Very strange and baffling as far as I'm concerned. If he's fit to play, he should play."
According to the former India head coach, Bumrah's participation in the second Test shouldn't have been in doubt. "I mean, that decision should be entirely in the hands of the captain and the head coach. Not the entire coaching staff, but only the head coach and the captain.
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"And like you mentioned, a week between Test matches, this is an important Test match, a must-win game for India. If they have to stay alive in the series, then you need your premier fast bowler playing. And no ifs and buts, he should have been playing," Shastri said.
Bumrah was declared fully fit and available for selection by skipper Shubman Gill on the eve of the Test. "I think this is an important match for us, but I think the third match of the series being at Lord's, there might be a chance that there might be a little bit more in the wicket than this one, so we thought we'd bring him better now," Gill said.
It has been echoed on multiple occasions that Bumrah will only play three Tests in the five-match series. Instructions are clear about his workload following the injury he sustained during the last Test match against Australia in Sydney. This was also the reason Bumrah was not handed captaincy in Test following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format. Even after India lost the first Test, head coach Gautam Gambhir had stated that Bumrah's workload management will not change.
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