There will be a leaning towards playing Bumrah, says ten Doeschate

Jasprit Bumrah spent quite a bit of time at the gym, but did not bowl as India had a long practice session at the Beckenham county ground on Thursday.

While it raised questions on whether he would be available for the series-deciding fourth Test in Manchester, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate indicated that there is a possibility of Bumrah turning up at Old Trafford.

“We will still make that call in Manchester, as we know we’ve got him for one of the last two Tests. It’s pretty obvious the series is on the line now in Manchester, so there will be a leaning towards playing him,” ten 
Doeschate said.

“But again, we have got to look at all the factors — how many days of cricket are we going to get up there? What do we feel is our best chance of winning that game? And then how that fits in together with The Oval and looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series,” the assistant coach added.

It was decided earlier that Bumrah will play only three Tests on the tour, and in the two matches that he featured in the series so far, Bumrah bowled 43.4 overs in Leeds, and claimed a five-for in the first innings, while resting at Birmingham. He returned to Lord’s for the third Test, and went on to take seven wickets.

However, with Arshdeep Singh also suffering an injury during training, there aren’t too many options. While bowling to B. Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep sustained a cut on his bowling hand and it had to be strapped with bandages.

“We have to see how bad the cut is. The medical team has taken him to see a doctor and obviously if he needs stitches or doesn’t need stitches that’s going to be important to our planning for the next few days,” ten Doeschate said.