India captain Shubman Gill has refused to rule pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah out of contention for the fifth test against England starting at the Oval on Thursday.
Bumrah, who is the joint-leading wicket taker in the series with 14, was expected to miss the decisive clash as India’s medical staff want to manage his workload.
But Gill said any decision would be left late.
“We will take a decision (on Bumrah) tomorrow; the wicket looks very green. So we will see how it turns out,” Gill told a press conference at the Oval on Wednesday.
Bumrah was scheduled to play only three of the five tests and has already featured in the opener at Headingley and the back-to-back tests at Lord’s and Old Trafford.
India need to win the final test to level the series 2-2.
“2-2 will be very significant for this team,” Gill said. “Every match we have played, it was difficult to decide the winner after the first four days.”
Should Bumrah miss out, India would likely select Akash Deep or even hand a debut to Arshdeep Singh.
“He has been asked to get ready but we will take a call on the playing eleven after looking at the pitch by this evening,” Gill said. “England haven’t gone with a frontline spinner.
“We have Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who have done such a good job with the ball and the bat. On that front, it’s a no-brainer for us.”
India are without wicket keeper Rishabh Pant, ruled out by a foot injury in the fourth test which ended in a draw on Sunday. Dhruv Jurel is set to stand in.
The build-up to the series finale has been overshadowed by a spat on Tuesday between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and the ground staff at the Oval after Gambhir tried to take a close look at the square.
Gill said the incident was “absolutely unnecessary”.
“It’s not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket, we have been there for almost two months,” he said.
“A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket and I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. I actually don’t know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket.
“All of us have played so much cricket, we have gone to the pitches so many times, including the coaches and captain, I don’t know what the fuss was about.”
(Reuters)
