Former India coach Ravi Shastri has launched a scathing attack on the current Indian team management for resting Jasprit Bumrah in a crucial Test match, where India is vying to level the five-match series.“You have the best fast bowler in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest,” Shastri said on Sky Cricket.“You know, it’s something very hard to believe,” he added.Without taking coach Gautam Gambhir’s name, Shastri raised concerns about India’s recent losing streak in Test cricket.“If you look at the run India has had, this becomes a very, very important Test match. You’ve lost three against New Zealand, you’ve lost three against Australia, you’ve lost the first Test match here, and you want to get back to winning ways,” he said.Bumrah, India’s best bowler but on a three-Test quota in the five-Test series, was replaced by Akash Deep, who will play his first Test this year.Batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy replaced bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who scored only 1 and 4 in the first-Test loss in Leeds last week.Washington Sundar, the off-spin bowling all-rounder with 25 wickets and a batting average of 42 in nine Tests, has also come in to shore up the batting, which suffered late-order collapses of 41-7 and 31-6 in Leeds.
Sai Sudharsan, who scored 0 and 30 on his Test debut in Leeds, was dropped, and Karun Nair was promoted to No. 3 in the order.India was made to bat first on a batting-friendly Edgbaston pitch after the toss was won by England, which has an unchanged lineup. India captain Shubman Gill said he also would have bowled first.England’s decision means it will chase again in the fourth innings. It hunted down 371 in Leeds to win by five wickets and chased 378 against India on the same ground in 2022.India has never beaten England at Edgbaston in eight previous Tests going back to 1967.
