India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is set to miss the second Test against England that will kick off on July 2 in Birmingham, sources have confirmed NDTV. Bumrah would be dropped for the game as a part of workload management. The right-arm pacer is injury-prone and it is extremely important for the team management to look after his fitness. India will be needing the fast bowler in the third Test at Lord’s and this might be the reason that the second match has been chosen to rest him. There is only a gap of three days between the second and third Test, and thus the likely decision to rest Bumrah seems to be a right choice.

While there are two pacers in the team — Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh — who could replace the right-arm pacer in the squad, the latter seems to be a better choice. Here are the reasons –

Arshdeep is much more experienced than Akash Deep. The left-arm pacer has played over 70 international games, while Akash holds an experience of only 7 games at the highest level.

Arshdeep also brings an X-factor with himself. He is a left-handed pacer with much better control in line and lengths than Akash Deep.

Arshdeep becomes an unplayable bowler under swinging conditions. Add the left-arm angle to it and he becomes a nightmare for the batters.