India chose to let speculation swirl around the potential involvement of Jasprit Bumrah in Wednesday’s second Test, insisting that a decision over whether to play their premier bowler would not be taken until late on Tuesday night.
Their fear is that should Edgbaston produce a pitch which favours batting, a prospect made more likely by the dry conditions in which the ground staff have been working, and the rain that is tentatively forecast for the weekend were to fall, a draw would become the most likely result. Playing the 31-year-old might end up doing little more than draining his reserves of energy ahead of a third Test that starts at Lord’s next Thursday. Shubman Gill, the India captain, would say only that Bumrah is “definitely available”.
