Birmingham [UK], July 1 : Ahead of the second Test against England at Birmingham, Indian skipper Shubman Gill said that while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is available to play, the team will take a final call later ahead of the match after seeing the wicket regarding the combination.
He also added that the team is trying to manage Bumrah's workload in the coming games.
The second Test will kickstart from Wednesday onwards at Birmingham. India is trailing 0-1 in the series, failing to defend 371 runs at Leeds, despite scoring five centuries while batting. Bumrah, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, went wicketless in the second and bowled almost 44 overs. In this series, he will be playing only three Tests.
Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match presser, Gill said, "Bumrah is definitely available to play. We are trying to find a way to manage his workload. And yes, we are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on these kind of wickets. We just thought we are going to have a final look today (on the wicket) once we come to the ground and see what kind of combination that we want to go with tomorrow."
Gill also said that the team was aware of the fact that Bumrah would be playing only three games and had decided on several combinations.
"So, you definitely do miss your best bowler if he is not playing. But I think we had that sorted before the series, who would be playing if he were not playing," he added.
Speaking on the team's ideal combination, the captain said that while the team would like to have batting depth till number seven or eight, having it till number nine will affect the ability to take 20 wickets.
"So, it is about finding the right combination for that particular condition and that particular ground. And I think if we are able to go with four or premier bowlers with maybe a sixth bowling option and then have a batting till seven or eight, I think that would be a good combination for us," he concluded.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
