“It should be taken out of the player's hand” - Ravi Shastri wants captain and coach to take a call on Jasprit Bumrah’s participation

Former Team India head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has stated it is pretty hard to believe that the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been excluded from the playing XI despite him having a week’s rest after the Leeds Test.

Interestingly, ahead of the England tour, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had confirmed that India will have the services of Bumrah in only three out of the five Tests. However, he didn’t specify which matches he will take part in.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Shastri asserted that a player shouldn’t pick and choose when he’s going to be a part of the playing XI. Instead, the captain and the coaching staff should take that important call.

"This is a very important match, they've had a week off. I'm a little surprised Bumrah is not playing this game. It should be taken out of the player's hand. It should be the captain and the coaching staff that should decide who should be playing the 11. This is an important game in the context of the series, he should be playing this game more than anything else,” Shastri told Sky Sports.

At the toss, Indian skipper Shubman Gill stated that Bumrah has been rested, citing workload management. Furthermore, he added that he would be brought back to the XI for the Lord’s Test, where he will get decent assistance. 

Speaking on the same, Shastri stated that India should’ve come up with a counter-attack by aiming to level the series 1-1 instead of thinking much about the third Test at Lord’s in London. He added that this is a very important Test for the Men in Blue.

“Lord's can come later. This is an important game where you have to counter-punch almost straight away. Play this one. Make it 1-1 and then give him the option: you want to rest at Lord's, rest at Lord's. You think he'll rest at Lord's? No chance if you win this. If you look at the run, India has had, this becomes a very, very important Test match,” he added.

“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. You have the best fast bowler in the side, in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest, it's something very hard to believe," he concluded.

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