“I think if he takes a break…” - Ravi Shastri predicts when Jasprit Bumrah should take a break

Former Indian head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri feels if the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were to take a rest and play only three Tests out of the five-match Test series, he has to skip the next game at Edgbaston in Birmingham and prepare himself to be ready for the third Test at Lord’s in London.

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Notably, to manage the workload concerns for Bumrah, it was decided ahead of the start of the tour that the Indian seamer would participate in three out of five Tests. Notably, Bumrah had a back surgery and since then he has been managed properly in terms of workload.

“Bumrah said he’ll play three Test matches. Now, which of the three he’ll play, that’s, you know, another question to be asked. I think if he takes a break, it’ll be the next one, because he’ll definitely want to play at Lord’s, right? And there’s a break, and then you go into Lord’s, then there’s a break, and then there’s a choice between Manchester and the same. It could be 2-0 down. So that is the problem. I think he has got to play,” Shastri told Sky Sports.

It’s important to note that Team India entered this series after suffering a 1-3 Test series defeat to Australia Down Under in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Prior to that, India suffered a home Test series defeat to New Zealand by 0-3. 

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Shastri asserted that India blew their chances of going 1-0 up against England with the opposition having a weak bowling line-up and now it’s a catch-up time for them to level scores in Birmingham.

“It will be a tough pill to swallow because I was just telling him, back in the commentary box, that we lost 3-0 against New Zealand, and lost a series in Australia. Now, this is a tough series. You had your opportunity to go one up here, you know, with England having problems with their bowling attack, the injuries that they have. And you’ve blown it. And now it’s catch-up time,” Shastri added.

Interestingly, Jasprit Bumrah, who scalped a fifer in the first innings of the Leeds Test, couldn’t replicate his heroics in the second innings as England went on to chase the 371-run target to win the game by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead early in the series.

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“You’re going to go and show some real character. And the knockout punch has to come in the very next Test match. If that doesn’t happen, then you’re really looking down. So whenever there’s a counter punch, you’re down. That has to happen quite immediately. So they have to realise that,” Shastri concluded.

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