England fast bowler Mark Wood, who is out of the five-match series against India due to injury, has warned Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir ahead of the Edgbaston Test, starting on Wednesday.“They cannot afford to go 2-0 down. So you want your best bowler,” Wood said on the Sky Sports podcast.“There’s no way he’s saying, ‘I’m not playing at Lord’s.’ I don’t think so. I think he’ll want to play both games,” predicted Wood.“Even if, let’s just say, India win the next one and it’s 1-1, I still think they’ll want him to make the difference, to get them ahead. I think every overseas bowler wants to get on that board, and he’ll be the same,” he added.Former England captain Michael Atherton echoed Wood’s view that Bumrah would love to play the third Test at Lord’s, but at the same time said India must play left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.“They have got a decision to make over Bumrah, first of all, because every overseas player wants to play in a Lord’s Test,” said Atherton.
“The Lord’s Test is three days after Edgbaston.“In cricketing terms, he should certainly play at Edgbaston, and I’d think very carefully about Old Trafford, because that’s the kind of ground where pace and reverse swing are really important. But as you say, every cricketer wants to play at Lord’s and get on that honours board.“I do think they should play Kuldeep Yadav. I think had they had Kuldeep in their team, they would have won that game at Edgbaston.”
