"It’s always difficult to replace someone like Bumrah": Gautam Gambhir

India`s new Test captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir seem to have made up their minds to counter England batters in the upcoming away five-Test series without ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah. Considering Bumrah’s workload management, it’s not clear exactly how many Tests he will play on this England tour which gets underway with the opening fixture at Leeds on June 20.    

During a pre-departure media interaction, at the BCCI’s headquarters at Wankhede on Thursday, both Gill and Gambhir, stressed that the team is equipped with a good bowling line-up. “I think we have picked enough bowlers, enough pace battery. A lot of our fast bowlers are in a great space to be able to win us Test matches in any conditions and from any position. When you have a fast bowler like Bumrah, whenever he comes and plays, it’s a great boost for us,” Gill said in reply to a question by mid-day on how they were looking to approach things given Bumrah’s unavailability for all the Tests in England.
Whenever Bumrah is unavailable in England, Gill and Gambhir will have to pick from pacers Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh.

Jasprit Bumrah

‘An opportunity for others’

Gambhir, however, admitted that it will be a tough task to replace a bowler of Bumrah’s calibre “It’s always difficult to replace someone like Bumrah, but, we have got enough quality. I have said this [before] at the Champions Trophy as well. It’s an opportunity for someone else to step up when he is not there,” said Gambhir.

When asked if the team management had decided on which three Tests Bumrah would play, Gambhir said he would take a call on the same only after the team reaches England. “We haven’t taken a call on which three Tests he [Bumrah] will play. We will discuss with him and then take a call depending on how the Test series goes. The result of the series is very important and he also knows that. We will take a call after we go there,” said Gambhir.

Kohli, Rohit will be missed

India will be playing a Test series without experienced campaigners Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after a very long time and Gill admitted that the recently-retired duo will be missed.

“Both Virat and Rohit are experienced players, and have won us many games. It’s always difficult to fill their space, but the team’s combination has a good mix of talent and experience. Pressure is always there, in all tours, so it won’t be any different this time. We will definitely miss Virat and Rohit,” said Gill, 25, who has represented the country in 32 Tests, but will be leading in the longest format for the first time. The top-order batsman is looking to create bond with his teammates and make everyone feel secure. “I don’t have any particular style [of leadership]. As I get more experience, my personal style will come forward. I like having communication with players by constantly talking to them. I want to create a bond with them. I want to understand their weaknesses and strengths because only if players feel secure, can they give their 100 per cent,” Gill said.

Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy this English summer

The forthcoming five-Test series between England and India will be played for a new trophy named after greats Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson, the BBC reported on Thursday. Both teams played for the Pataudi Trophy in every England-hosted Test series since 2007.