Mumbai, June 26 (IANS) India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is likely to be rested for the second Test of the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series to be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham from July 2, according to a report on Thursday.

He is likely to be back for the third Test, the Indian Express reported on Thursday, indicating that the move is to rest Bumrah to manage his workload.

Bumrah was India’s best bowler in the first innings of the opening Test at Headingley in Leeds, bagging a five-wicket haul in the first innings that helped India gain a narrow six-run lead. However, he went wicketless in the second innings as England successfully chased a challenging target of 371 to win the match by five wickets.

It was made clear at the time of team selection that Bumrah would play only four of the five scheduled Tests to manage his workload. Both skipper Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir had made it clear that they would decide later which four matches their pace spearhead from Gujarat would play. A report on Thursday claimed that the Test that Bumrah is likely to miss is the second one.

Bumrah is considered the best exponent of his trade currently and is at the top of the ICC Rankings for Bowlers. In his absence, the Indian bowling unit will look rather weak as Prisidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj had struggled to bowl a consistent line and length and gave away easy runs to England, which eventually cost India the match.

While India are considering resting Bumrah for the second Test. England got a big boost as they included pacer Jofra Archer in the squad for the second Test.

A recurrence of an elbow injury and a stress fracture in the back meant Archer was largely sidelined from playing Tests for England after February 2021. Archer turned out for Sussex in their recent County Championship game against Durham at Chester-Le-Street, marking his first red-ball appearance in four years, and returned with figures of 1-32 in 18 overs.

It remains to be seen who, between Josh Tongue, who picked seven wickets in the first game, and Brydon Carse, with four scalps to his name, will drop out of the playing eleven to accommodate Archer. Sam Cook, Jamie Overton, and Jacob Bethell retain their places in the squad.

–IANS

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