Jasprit Bumrah to be forced to play all 5 Tests? Gautam Gambhir breaks silence, defends Indian bowlers

India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up on whether the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be asked to play all five Test matches against the England National Cricket Team.

Gautam Gambhir made the revelation after India lost the Test series opener against England by 5 wickets at Headingley in Leeds.

Notably, ahead of the commencement of the England tour, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and Jasprit Bumrah himself announced that he would only be available for three Tests.

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Jasprit Bumrah bags 5 wickets in 1st Test

The best bowler in the world, Jasprit Bumrah, delivered a good performance for his team in the first Test against the Ben Stokes-led side.

In the first innings, he didn't receive good support from the Indian fielders as several catches were dropped off his bowling, but he still went on to take a sensational 5-wicket haul.

In 24.4 overs, Bumrah gave away 83 runs and dismissed Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, and Josh Tongue to wrap up England's innings for 465.

Jasprit Bumrah didn't receive the desired support from his fellow pacers in the first innings, and when he was unable to produce early wickets in the second innings, England openers stitched up a match-winning 188-run stand.

Overall, Bumrah bowled 19 overs in the second innings and conceded 57 runs while going wicketless. Some concerns also arose among fans regarding Bumrah's fitness when he was not bowled with the second new ball on the final day, but captain Shubman Gill clarified that the pacer was fit and they were just managing his workload.

I think for us to manage Bumrah's workload is more important - Gautam Gambhir

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gautam Gambhir confirmed that they won't alter the plans related to Jasprit Bumrah, and he will only play three Test matches in England.

The head coach added that managing the workload of the pacer is the priority for them because India have a jam-packed schedule coming up.

"No, we won't change the plans. I think for us to manage Bumrah's workload is more important because there's a lot of cricket going forward and we know what he brings to the table as well," Gambhir said.

"So before he came on this tour, it was already decided that he's going to play three Test matches, but let's see how his body turns up. But we haven't decided which two other Test matches he's going to play."

Gautam Gambhir tears into Indian pace-bowling critics

India head coach further said that India have a highly inexperienced pace-bowling unit, which needs to be backed and not judged on a match-to-match basis.

Gautam Gambhir expressed his confidence in the pacers to pick 20 wickets even in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, but asked for some patience. He elaborated:

"This bowling attack has one bowler with five Tests under his belt [Nitish Kumar Reddy], one has four [Prasidh Krishna], one has played two [Harshit Rana] and one hasn't yet debuted [Arshdeep Singh]. We will have to give them time. Earlier, we used to have four fast bowlers in the squad with an experience of more than 40 Tests. It doesn't make such a big impact in one-day or T20 matches, but when you go to Australia, England, or South Africa for Tests, experience matters.

"These are early days. If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will we develop a bowling attack? Outside Bumrah and [Mohammad] Siraj, we don't have that much experience, but they [the others] have quality, which is why they are in this dressing room. But we have got to keep backing them because it's not about one tour. It's about building a fast-bowler battery that can serve India for long time in Test cricket."

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir reveals why Shubman Gill underutilized Shardul Thakur in the 1st Test against England