After India lost to England by 5 wickets in the first Tests, the questions started creeping in about if Jasprit Bumrah would seriously be restricted to three Test matches or not. Earlier, before coming to England, coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill clarified that he will be playing only three; however, which three was not decided. Given the first one being lost, whether Bumrah will be forced to play the rest of the four is still a question.

 

Well, India's defeat is not changing their approach towards Bumrah's workload management. Speaking at the post match press conference, Gambhir clarified,

 

"I think for us to manage Bumrah's workload is more important because there's a lot of cricket going forward and we know that what he brings to the table as well. So before he came on this tour, it was already decided that he's going to play three Test matches, but let's see how his body turns up. But we haven't decided which two other Test matches he's going to play."

 

Read also: Shubman Gill Blames Drops, Collapse for Headingley Loss

 

Gautam Gambhir backed India's less experienced bowling troop

 

Baring Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja, none of the bowlers has sound experience to demolish the English batters. England, which is itself going through the transition phase, looked way more dominant that the touring India in all respects.

 

However, Gautam Gambhir, in defense, backed his bowlers, saying they hardly have any experience in these, and they need time to cope. Gambhir said,

 

"This bowling attack has one bowler with five Tests under his belt, one has four, one has played two and one hasn't yet debuted. We will have to give them time. Earlier, we used to have four fast bowlers in the squad with an experience of more than 40 Tests. It doesn't make such a big impact in one-day or T20 matches, but when you go to Australia, England or South Africa for Tests, experience matters. These are early days."

 

He further added,

 

"If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will be develop a bowling attack? Outside Bumrah and (Mohammad) Siraj, we don't have that much experience, but they have quality, which is why they are in this dressing room. But we have got to keep backing them because it's not about one tour. It's about building a fast-bowler battery that can serve India for long time in Test cricket."