The England tour marks the first challenge for the Gill-Gambhir combination.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

The Indian team management is yet to decide which three Tests Jasprit Bumrah will feature in the upcoming five-match series in England, but head coach Gautam Gambhir and newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill made it clear that there’s enough depth in its pace attack.

“We haven’t taken that call, which three games is he going to play,” Gambhir said on Thursday.

“We are going to have a discussion with him and (it will) depend on the series as well. A lot will depend on the results of the series, where the series is heading. That is something which I am sure he is very well aware of as well and that is important.”

Fitness worry

While announcing the squad last month, the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, said that Bumrah had been advised by medical staff not to risk playing back-to-back Tests as part of his workload management in the wake of him breaking down during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January.

But Gambhir believes that this will also be an opportunity for the rest of the pace attack, comprising Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Shardul Thakur to stand up and deliver.

“I have said it before during the Champions Trophy (which Bumrah missed) as well, it will give someone the opportunity to put his hand up and we have got enough talent there. I know that he is quality but we have got enough quality apart from him as well in the squad.”

New WTC cycle

Under the leadership of Gill, the five Tests against England will be India’s first in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, and the young captain believes that there’s enough firepower in the bowling department.

“We have picked enough bowlers and we have a good enough pace battery and a lot of fast bowlers are in a great space to be able to win us Test matches from any situation or any position,” Gill said.