Bumrah and other Indian pacers skip net, Gambhir hints at Test bowling changes

Mayank Bande

Bumrah and other Indian pacers skip net, Gambhir hints at Test bowling changes image

India's loss in the first Test of the England tour at Headingley, where they let the hosts chase 371 runs has raised quite a few eyebrows for the underwhelming performances from the bowling group, bar Jasprit Bumrah.

Their second-best bowler of the match, in terms of wickets, Prasidh Krishna took 5 wickets but conceded 220 runs in the match at an economy rate of 6.28 runs per over.

Considering the over-reliance on Bumrah, who is going to miss two Tests in the series to manage his workload and the second Test seems like one of those two, with how the first net session for the team looked after the loss.

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Check out how the net session panned out.

Will Jasprit Bumrah play the Edgbaston Test?

India find themselves in a precarious situation where they have a significant gap of 8 days between the first two Tests; however, following the Edgbaston Test, there are only 3 days for them to rest and recoup for the game at Lord's where someone like Bumrah would enjoy bowling.

After bowling 43.4 overs in the first game, according to TOI, the Indian bowling spearhead did not participate in the on-field activity despite being present on the sidelines, raising doubts about his availability.

Krishna was another bowler who did not bowl in the nets during their first session after the loss.

READ MORE: R Ashwin tells Siraj how to support Jasprit Bumrah in IND vs ENG Test series

Adding on to the duo missing out, coach Gautam Gambhir was seen having an extended conversation with the other bowlers in Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep, who did not play the first game, while Mohammed Siraj, who bowled well in the 2nd innings, was seen bowling long spells to Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.

In a nutshell, as per the early signals — Bumrah and Krishna could be seen missing out on the Edgbaston Test with Arshdeep or Akash Deep in the conversation to replace them.

Among the experts in the fraternity, including the England legend, Stuart Broad Kuldeep Yadav has also been touted as a good option to play in the 2nd Test to exploit England's weakness against wrist spin.

Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.