‘Jasprit Bumrah can’t be the answer to all your problems’: Gautam Gambhir warns despite India’s ODI win

ByTech Word News

India’s Jasprit Bumrah (ANI Photo) India may have started the three-match ODI series with a comfortable six-wicket win over England at Edgbaston, but the decision to leave Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing eleven has sparked debate even after the match. The visitors got off to a dream start with the ball as Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar tore through England’s top order. The hosts slumped from 61 for no loss to 107 for 6 before Joe Root and Liam Dawson put on 121 runs for the seventh wicket to revive the innings and take England to 258. During the recovery, former India pacer Varun Aaron questioned the Indian team’s combination, claiming that Kuldeep’s absence deprived the side of a real wicket option in the middle overs. “India have Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel throws arm balls into the batter and bowls all those sliders. You have to play with your speeds and seam position to get something out of the wicket,” Aaron said in a commentary. He also felt that England’s batsmen settled down against Axar Patel as they did not expect a significant turn from the left-arm spinner. “England batsmen are going to play Axar as an off-spinner. It is very obvious that he is not going to turn the ball outside the batsman. How do you get wickets in the middle overs? Jasprit Bumrah cannot be your answer to all your problems,” added Aaron. Despite England’s fightback, India completed the chase with ease to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Skipper Shubman Gill again excelled at Edgbaston with a fluent 80 before retiring with cramps, while Axar Patel backed his move with a four-wicket unbeaten 57. Washington Sundar also remained unbeaten on 52 as the pair shared a winning stand of 102 runs in 45 overs in the chase. Earlier, Axar finished with figures of 4/62 after cleaning up England’s bottom order, but Root’s 76 and Dawson’s career-best 68 helped the hosts recover from a precarious position after India’s fast bowlers dominated the opening phase.