Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been released from the squad for the fifth Test, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said in a statement on Friday.
'Mr Jasprit Bumrah has been released from India’s squad for the fifth Test of the series against England. The fifth and final Test of the series is underway at Kennington Oval, London,' the BCCI released a statement on X, that included the updated squad.
India stuck to their pre-series decision to field Bumrah in only three Tests and was hence not played in the final Test at the Oval
With the series on the line, Indian captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir waited till the last minute to take a call on Bumrah, who played the first Test at Headingley, skipped the second match at Edgbaston, and featured in the games at Lord's and Old Trafford.
Speaking to reporters after Day 1 of the series deciding fifth Test at The Oval, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said it was always a tough call leaving a player like Bumrah on the bench.
"It's quite a complex issue around Bumrah, you know, we obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body's at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn't worth including him in the squad."
"He has bowled a large number of overs, I know it doesn't always seem like that because he's only played three Tests and he only bowled in one innings in Manchester. But if you look at the loads, he's bowled a lot of overs, and like he did say coming into the tour, he was going to be available for three games, and we just felt it was right to honour that call."
India’s updated squad for fifth Test: Shubman Gill (C), KL Rahul (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK)
