India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will not be available for selection for the 4th Test against England which is scheduled to be played from March 4 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Bumrah had requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to be released from the squad owing to personal reasons. The BCCI also informed that there will no replacement named for Bumrah.
“Jasprit Bumrah made a request to BCCI to be released from India’s squad ahead of the fourth Test owing to personal reasons. Accordingly, the fast bowler has been released and he will not be available for selection for the fourth Test,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Bumrah was part of India’s playing XI for the third Test which was played in Ahmedabad, which India won by 10 wickets. The fast bowler was rested from the XI for the second Test in Chennai as well. India had won that Test by 317 runs.
Bumrah returned four wickets in the first Test of the series but since then his role has been limited as the pitches at Ahmedabad started assisting spinners. Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel picked up 18 of the 20 England wickets that fell in the third Test – a match that finished inside two days. The ongoing Test series against England is Bumrah’s first on home soil in a storied Test career that began in January 2018. Bumrah has 83 wickets from 19 Tests at 22.10 with 5 five-wicket hauls.
India’s squad for the 4th Test: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav
Bumrah is expected to return to action when the ODI series against England gets underway next month. Earlier this month, he was rested for the five-match T20I series that will start on March 12. The ODI series, on the other hand, will start on March 23.
