‘Why was it not kept a secret?’ Broadcaster questions need to publicise team strategy ahead of England Tests

Team India suffered a blow in the series opener against England at Headingley, losing the game by five wickets late on the final day. Although the visiting team had four players hitting five tons in total – the most by them in a Test match - they failed to put England under pressure. Reflecting on it ahead of the second match at Edgbaston starting next Wednesday (Jul 2), former Indian cricketer-turned-broadcaster Aakash Chopra said India perhaps made a mistake by revealing Jasprit Bumrah’s possible playing timeline in the UK.

Even before the Indian Team departed for England for the five-match Test series, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, while addressing the media, revealed that the NCA doctors had advised them against playing Bumrah for than three Tests, two on the trot.

Although it wasn’t a secret for anyone to know, given Bumrah’s persistent back issues that led to him missing nearly four months of action early this year, Chopra feels it wasn’t required to inform everyone about it in the first place and that decisions around it could have been taken inside the dressing room, keeping England guessing about his playing time.

“Bumrah said he will play three matches only, and I am thinking whether it was required to publicise it. Why was it not kept a secret? We don’t announce our team as well. So, why was it necessary to reiterate it repeatedly before the start of the tour that he would play three matches only? Let them guess. You play whichever Tests you wish,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“You have played one, and you know you can play only two of the remaining four matches, which is not a good thing. If you play the second as well, you will play one of three. So, suddenly, the opposition gets into a great frame of mind that Bumrah, your biggest strength, is also not there. You can prepare pitches accordingly,” Chopra added.

After the first Test in Leeds, where Bumrah broke multiple records with his 12th away five-for in the first innings, his 14th overall, he also bowled 44 overs across both innings. Although he failed to repeat his first-inning heroics on day five, remaining wicketless in the second, what hurt India more was Bumrah not getting enough support from the other end.

“The next generation of Indian fast bowlers will have to be prepared. It’s a serious issue. There were two important pillars of India’s good performances away from home. One was batters starting to score runs, but it doesn’t work out with that, as you need to pick up 20 wickets. So Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj were outstanding with Jasprit Bumrah,” opined Chopra.

“I also remember Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Lord’s Test. When there are doubts about Bumrah’s availability, who will take the responsibility going forward, because Mohammad Shami, I think that story is not over, but it is close to an ending. Mohammed Siraj is good, but he hasn’t reached the rank of Bumrah or Shami,” he added.

Meanwhile, India and England will face off in the second Test starting July 2 at Edgbaston. Hosts England lead the five-match series 1-0.