Former India pacer and ex-national selector Salil Ankola wants speedster Jasprit Bumrah to play both the remaining Tests against England in the five-match series. Ankola also feels Shubman Gill’s playing XI must have wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the must-win fourth Test starting at Manchester on Wednesday. Ben Stokes’s England are leading the series 2-1.
“If Bumrah is touring England as a team member, he definitely has to play the fourth Test; he has to play all the matches,” Ankola told mid-day on Friday.
To manage his workload, Bumrah, 31, has played two out of the first three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, in which he claimed 5-83 in the first innings in the opening Test at Leeds and he bagged 5-74 and 2-38 in the third Test at Lord’s. He was rested for the second Test at Birmingham.
‘Can’t choose matches’
Ankola also raised a query on how Bumrah was given the liberty to pick and choose matches. He said: “I don’t think anyone, even the greatest of the greats, starting from SMG [Sunil Gavaskar] to Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ajinkya Rahane, Virender Sehwag and even fast bowlers like Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, you name a lot of players, nobody was given the liberty to pick and choose matches. Ultimately, you are playing for India.”
Ankola demanded clarity on the fitness of the ace pacer, who has claimed 217 scalps in 47 Tests. “Bumrah is definitely a match-winning bowler, but it’s not like we don’t have other bowlers. If he is unfit, don’t take him with the team. Let him be fully fit. You [team management] are also unsure and Bumrah is also unsure [whether to play or not]. So, who takes that call? It’s not the coach, it’s not the selectors, but it’s the physio and doctor. That means someone somewhere is not taking responsibility for doing their job right. I’m not criticising anybody, this is my opinion as a layman because I’m not in the selection committee,” added Ankola, who represented the country in one Test and 20 ODIs between 1989 and 1997.
When asked about his choice of bowlers at Old Trafford, given the bouncy pitch and windy weather, Ankola advocated the inclusion of specialists.
“Why are you taking wrist-spinner Kuldeep in England? He is a match-winning bowler. He worked hard, he got himself stronger, fitter and is bowling very well. You have to play Kuldeep. For how many more years are going to cushion your batters? You need to take 20 wickets, so matches are won by bowlers, not batters.
‘Kuldeep must play’
“From Day One we needed four specialist bowlers [in the playing XI] — play Kuldeep, Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep. All three have done well [in England]. English batters are always exposed against wrist-spinners. Then you have a choice between two all-rounders — Nitish Kumar Reddy or Washington Sundar. Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] is also doing well in all three departments — bowling, batting and fielding,” Ankola concluded.
