INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Ryan ten Doeschate also spoke about the fitness of Rishabh Pant heading to Manchester © Getty
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has hinted that Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play the fourth Test at Manchester. Speaking to the press, he said “We’ll make that call in Manchester still. We know we’ve got him for one of the last two Tests. I think it’s pretty obvious the series is on the line in Manchester, so there will be a leaning towards playing him.
“But again, we’ve look at all the factors, how many days of cricket are we going to get up there? What do we feel is our best chance of winning that game? And then how that fits in together with the Oval, and looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series.”
While Bumrah’s workload has been a major topic of debate following the Indian management’s announcement that he will only be playing three of the five Tests, the workload of Mohammad Siraj, who’s played all three Tests so far, has now been brought into focus as well.
“I think we sort of take for granted our luck to have someone like that. I know he doesn’t always have the returns that you expect from a fast bowler, but in terms of heart, he’s like a lion and what he brings to this bowling attack, whenever he does have the ball in hand you always feel like something’s going to happen.
“He’s not someone who’s going to shy away from workload, so it makes it even more important for us to manage his workload and make sure that he’s at least fit to give his best. Again, we’ll take a call on the combination we play particularly given the Arshdeep [Singh] situation as well. We’ll make that call closer to Manchester,” said ten Doeschate speaking about Siraj.
The ‘Arshdeep situation, ten Doeschate was referring to, was a cut the fast-bowler sustained during practise. The extent of his injury is unclear and it adds a layer of complication to India’s selection for the next Test.
“Yeah, he took a ball while he was bowling there, he tried to stop it and it’s just a cut. So we have to see how bad the cut is. Obviously the medical team have taken him off to see a doctor. And obviously if he needs stitches or doesn’t need stitches, that’s going to be important to our planning for the next few days,” he said.
India will also be sweating on the fitness of Rishabh Pant, who took a blow to a finger on his left-hand while keeping wickets in the previous Test. Pant did not keep wickets for the rest of the game and was also visibly in pain whilst batting.
“He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test and it’s only going to get easier and easier on his finger. ‘Keeping is obviously the last part of the process to make sure that he can keep. We don’t want to go through that again where we have to replace the keeper halfway through an innings.
“But yeah, he rested today. We’re just trying to give the finger as long as possible and hopefully he’s good to go in Manchester. Jurel is in the equation but obviously if Rishabh’s fit he comes in and does both,” said ten Doeschate.
© Cricbuzz
