Jasprit Bumrah is currently second leading wicket-taker of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly going to change its squad selection policies, particularly regarding pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. According to The Times of India, the selection committee will consider Bumrah for future Test series only if he’s available for all matches. The move may come after the conclusion of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, where the right-arm pacer had declared beforehand that he would be available for only three Tests of the five-match series due to workload management.
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While Bumrah featured at Headingley, Lord’s, and Manchester, he missed the Edgbaston and The Oval Tests. Despite missing two Tests, the right-arm pacer is still the team’s best bowler and second leading wicket-taker of the five-match series. The 31-year-old took 14 wickets in five innings at 26. However, he seemed to be suffering from cramps and slight injuries in the fourth game. His average speed also saw a significant dip from the first Test to the fourth. This led to another rest for the deciding Test at the Oval.
“Strength and condition (S&C) coaches can set the workload threshold for each player. But Bumrah’s availability should depend on his fitness, which will be assessed by the medical team,” the report cited a BCCI ‘source’ as saying.
The Shubman Gill-led side doesn’t have any five-match Test series scheduled till at least July 2026. But Bumrah plays all three formats and is equally the most important in them. With the T20 World Cup 2026 in February in India approaching quickly, his presence will be crucial.
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India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has rejected the circulating perspective that Bumrah was ‘picking and choosing’ Test matches in the ongoing ATT 2025. He confirmed that it was not the fair comment and it was the team management that was taking the call on which he’d play.
“It’s quite a complex issue around Bumrah; you know, we obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body’s at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn’t worth including him in the squad,” Ten Doeschate said. “… I don’t think picking and choosing is a fair comment to Bumrah; he did say he was going to play three games; he left it up to us which three he played; we’ve tried to manage the situation; it’s not ideal, I guess giving those guys attention, the guys who aren’t playing, particularly when you’re carrying 18, is important,” he added.
Bumrah’s injury concerns didn’t spring out of thin air, either. He played all five Tests against Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). The right-arm pacer was overbowled even when he was heard saying on the stump mic that he was not able to push himself further. He got injured in the Sydney Test and, at that time, had bowled the most overs in the series.
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