Bumrah fitness leaves India with Edgbaston quandry

And so the balance of the bowlers begins.

- CAMERON PONSONBY

A five-Test series requires thought. Even more so now that England have edged ahead after a thrilling chase at Headingley. Few bowlers can last five games in a row, and so compared to their batting counterparts who can knuckle down and cash in on finding some form - or rather find themselves in a doom loop of coming up against the same bowlers who have worked them out — the individuals with ball in hand will chop and change.

Results dictate everything. And so while the victorious England have decided to go into the second Test unchanged, it could be all change for the defeated India.

India’s selection strategy revolves around the fitness of their star Jasprit Bumrah, the best bowler in the world. Five Tests in a row over the winter against Australia proved too much for him, and in his final match he suffered a stress fracture to his back.

India have doubled down on their plan to only select the quick bowler for three of the five matches against England.

Why they have so publicly committed to the plan is anyone’s guess, as such is the pattern of the series that there are significant gaps between the first and second Tests and the third and fourth. It means that Bumrah could easily have played matches one, two and four and then India would have been able to give themselves the leeway of playing him in a potential decider without making a public U-turn. But head coach Gautam Gambhir has refused the option of flexibility.