Gambhir, Agarkar To Take Call On Bumrah

There will be no early call on Jasprit Bumrah’s place in Team India in Tests. While the BCCI bigwigs may have been unhappy over his selective approach to playing Tests in the England series, they are loath to take a big decision on individual fast bowler’s workload management. Team India believes intensely in its premier fast bowler even if social media is agog with caustic views of Bumrah’s ‘maybe, maybe not’ approach. A less than 100% match-fit Bumrah was not much use in the third of the Tests that he played, in Manchester. But that was on a belter of a batting pitch when Bumrah was not certain of his match fitness to bowl about 50 overs in five days. Team India will be allowed to decide on the fast bowler’s presence in the two-Test series against the West Indies. But since his workload in home Tests may be far less against such a lowly opponent as the team from the Caribbean, the BCCI will be happy to allow the team to take the call. There will be no central decision on fast bowlers playing or opting out of matches. What Bumrah’s presence in the team can do is too well-known. His 219 Test wickets at 19.82 at an average just under 20 runs per wicket makes him only the only bowler along with Scott Boland -who has 62 wickets at 16.53 from 14 Tests – with a sub-20 economy rate among contemporary bowlers. Sources close to Gautam Gambhir reveal that the chief coach will pick Bumrah for Tests in consultation with the chairman of selectors at an appropriate time in the coming home season.