Once again India will face doubts about their fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah
What you should know
The way India saved itself from defeat in the fourth Test against England is called the 'Great Scape'. That Test at Old Trafford ended in a draw. Now the final and fifth Test will be held at the Oval this week.
If they win, India will be able to end the series at 2-2. This will be another 'Great Escape' from a Test series defeat. Before this, India will once again have doubts about its fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. It was said before the start of the
series that the bowler would only play three Tests due to injury. India wants Bumrah not to have too much workload. The fourth Test played in Manchester was the third match for the top bowler in the rankings. By the time the fifth Test begins on Thursday, Bumrah will have no time to rest from exhaustion. He bowled 33 overs in the fourth Test. In that he gave 112 runs and took 2 wickets. This is the first time he has scored a hundred runs in a single innings. So, is India ready to play without this 33-year-old bowler in the decisive Test? The same problem exists in the English team. It's about captain Ben Stokes, not anyone else. He can bowl, bat too. Such all-rounders are an asset to the team. But England also has to save a player like Stokes from injury.
On top of that, the Aces series is close for England. The fourth Test was special for Stokes, as he scored a century in one Test and also took 5 wickets. He was only the fourth English player to achieve this feat. He is now 34 years old. He has scored 7000 runs in Test cricket and has taken 200 wickets. He is only the third player in Test cricket to achieve this feat. A similar achievement was achieved by West Indies' Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis.
Saturday fourth team Stokes did not bowl even once against India. He seemed to be going through injuries and suffering. In this case, how much to use Stokes as a player and not, there will be a dilemma. There is no such problem with a single player. He is Indian captain Shubman Gill. He has made a sensational debut for India as captain. He has scored three centuries in 4 innings.
In the other three innings, he has been able to score only 34 runs. What this means is that he is a player who can get himself into trouble. Or let's say, the pressure gets to him too. When he came out to bat in the fourth Test, India were still three hundred runs behind. But at that time he played a brilliant innings of 103 runs. He was supported by two other century batsmen, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja. Now there will be an opportunity for him to add more runs at the Oval.
