Can Team India win in Ranchi without Jasprit Bumrah?

The term workload management makes its grand entry into the ongoing 5-match series between India and England. Star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is all set to be rested for the fourth Test match due to be played at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on February 23rd.

After India's thumping win in Rajkot, and with it taking a 2-1 lead in the series, the hosts have decided to give Bumrah a much-deserved rest. Bumrah, the leading wicket-taker in the series, has taken 17 wickets at an astounding average of 13.64 and has been a thorn in England's flesh.

The English batters just don't know what to do with him. Despite all the talk of bazball demolishing bowlers all around the park, Jasprit Bumrah has been an exception. Bumrah has outclassed the spinners on spin-friendly wickets at home, with Ravindra Jadeja as the second-best Indian bowler with 12 wickets, followed by Ravichandran Ashwin with 11 scalps to his name.

Against England, though, the success metric for a bowler is not the number of wickets he has taken but whether the bowler has instilled fear in the minds of the batters. England has been scoring freely against all the Indian bowlers, including the likes of Jadeja and Ashwin. When it comes to Bumrah, they have taken a cautious approach, given the accuracy, variation, and pace at which the Indian pacer bowls.

Bumrah has an economy of 2.87, while both Jadeja and Ashwin have leaked runs at over 4 runs per over against England. Strange, but that's how aggressively England batters have approached the Indian spinners, but against Bumrah, they have been found wanting and quite literally searching for answers.

Bumrah's Absence from the Ranchi Test Boosts England's Chances

India is likely to field Mukesh Kumar for the third Test, who was released from the third Test to play for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Now, with Bumrah not there, Mukesh Kumar will share the new ball with Mohammed Siraj.

Mukesh featured in the second Test in Vizag and had a horrible outing, as England batters plundered runs at will against him. He managed a solitary wicket for Shoaib Bashir in the match. Jasprit Bumrah, on the other hand, was the reason behind India's win in Vizag, which also helped India level the series 1-1.

With two tests pending in the series and all three results a possibility, Jasprit Bumrah's exclusion from the Ranchi Test gives England the motivation to go hard against Indian bowlers and put them under extreme pressure to level the series at 2-2.

Resting Bumrah from the Ranchi Test: a tactical move?

The JSCA Stadium in Ranchi has hosted two Tests so far—once against Australia in 2017 and the second one against South Africa in 2019. Coincidentally, Bumrah didn't feature in any of them. The fans in Ranchi would be disappointed not to see Boom-Boom in action, but given the kind of wicket likely to be dished out to the two teams, it is expected to be hard work for the pacers out there on MS Dhoni's home ground.

With summers on the horizon, the wickets in the northeast part of the country are likely to be dry and offer assistance to spinners. Ravindra Jadeja is already the most successful bowler in Ranchi, with 12 wickets from two matches. This is just a glimpse of what to expect over the weekend at the JSCA.

Bumrah, who has already sent down 80.5 overs in the first three Test matches, stands a good chance of getting injured if his current workload isn't managed well. Given that the IPL 2024 follows straight after the conclusion of the Test series in Dharamsala, there is a high chance that Bumrah might play in the last match as well.

If England manages to beat India in Ranchi, maybe the team management will be forced to play Bumrah in the fifth Test. However, if the result goes in the hosts' favor, one shouldn't expect to see Bumrah marking his run-up in the fifth Test.

With so much cricket being played these days and with IPL duties taking priority, cricketers, especially the fast bowlers, are left with no choice but to take breaks in between the series to keep themselves fresh and raring to go. The risk is even more so with Bumrah, given his slingy action, wear and tear, and the injuries he has already suffered in his international career so far.

Jasprit Bumrah, what do the numbers say?

Bumrah made his Test debut against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2018. Since then, the right-arm pacer has played 35 Tests for India and bagged 157 wickets. More interestingly, India during the same tenure, in the last six years, has featured in 59 matches.

This means, either due to workload management or injuries, Bumrah has already missed 24 Tests for the country. Playing every Test match in the current scenario isn't a reality anymore, as pacers are bound to get injured at some point in their careers.

Out of those 24 Tests that Jasprit Bumrah has missed, one came in Australia, two in Bangladesh, three in England, and two in the West Indies. It should come as no surprise that Bumrah has featured in just seven Test matches at home and has not been a part of the playing XI for 16 Tests in India.

So, as per the team management, the best way to preserve Jasprit Bumrah is to play him in important Test matches, like they did in Rajkot, and preserve him for lesser important matches or inconsequential games in the country. With the team going abroad, Bumrah becomes a quintessential asset for any skipper, and Rohit Sharma is no exception.

The win in Rajkot couldn't have come at a better time for Team India. The 2-1 lead gives India the luxury to not only rest Jasprit Bumrah but also test their bench strength against a high-quality team like England.

Ben Stokes and company would look at Bumrah's presence as an opportunity to level the series with one Test to play in Dharamsala. Oh Boy! That would be ideal, given the way the series has gone so far in the last three tests.

Can India survive with Jasprit Bumrah in Ranchi? They should, because England just got hammered in Rajkot, and in all likelihood, the host's spinners need to take the onus and drive home the advantage at the JSCA Stadium.

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(The author is a cricket expert and has worked as a sports writer for broadcast and multimedia platforms for nearly a decade.)