Must go to great lengths

India's bowlers in need of better lengths to end Edgbaston jinx

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BENGALURU: Jasprit Bumrah's possible absence from next week's second Test against England in Birmingham will rob India's bowling unit of control, not an ideal element to miss when the visitors are trying to go level at a ground where they have never won a red-ball match.

The passage between overs 65 and 82 of the first Test at Leeds, which England won by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, will offer further validation to that grim fact. England were 286/4 when India's pace talisman ended that spell with overall figures of 19-3-57-0, and he was not summoned for another over.

Perhaps, skipper Shubman Gill wanted to preserve him for the second new ball which was due in 15 overs and it also aligned with India's workload management plan for their premier pacer.