Jasprit Bumrah likely to be rested for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test in Birmingham: Reports

Team India's star speedster Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the side's second Test of the ongoing five-match away Test series against England. The match is set to be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from July 2 to 6.

According to a report from The Indian Express, Bumrah is likely to be rested for the contest as part of his workload management. The Indian pace spearhead shone with the ball in England's first innings of the Test series opener at Headingley, Leeds.

He picked up his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests. However, he remained wicketless in the subsequent essay as England chased down a mammoth 371-run target with five wickets in hand to claim a 1-0 lead.

The report suggested that Jasprit Bumrah will return to the playing XI for the third Test, which is scheduled to take place at Lord's, London, from July 10 to 14.

Bumrah's absence would be a big miss for the visitors as he was the team's lone warrior with the ball for most of the first Test. The seamers in India's squad who can replace the 31-year-old include Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

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"Try to get even in the series, and then he can take the break" - Ravichandran Ashwin not in favor of India resting Jasprit Bumrah for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the second Test is a must for India following the five-wicket loss in Leeds. He opined that the ace fast bowler should play in Birmingham as it gives the visitors a great chance to level the series.

Ashwin stated that the Shubman Gill-led side should make one change to their playing XI by giving left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav a go. Speaking in the latest YouTube video of his channel, 'Ashwin', he said (from 17:51):

"Considering we are 1-0 down, I'd ask Bumrah to play the second Test, and try to get even in the series, and then he can take the break. Since there is a considerable break between the 3rd and 4th Test, he can take rest then, and play the 2nd Test. I'll just bring Kuldeep in, and not do any other changes."

It is worth mentioning that Jasprit Bumrah is expected to play just three Tests in the series. He played in all five games of India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 series against Australia.

However, he sustained a back injury in the final Test, which sidelined him from the 2025 Champions Trophy. His workload management was one of the reasons for him not getting India's Test captaincy following former skipper Rohit Sharma's red-ball retirement.

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Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai