The question is whether or not Jasprit Bumrah should play. India's greater worry before the second Test in Birmingham is whether to rest their top fast bowler, rather than Yashasvi Jaiswal's fielding difficulties. Just one day before the Edgbaston Test, England has exacerbated the debate by former head coach Ravi Shastri cautioning the team administration on workload management.

Former captain Mike Atherton and England pacer Mark Wood, who has been sidelined from the series, talked about Bumrah's predicament on Monday, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of adding him to the XI for the second Test.

To manage the injury-prone Bumrah's workload, selectors had previously confirmed that he would only play in three of the five Tests during the England tour. Following the Leeds Test, head coach Gautam Gambhir backed the strategy. The discussion about Bumrah's selection has gained steam, though, in light of India's subpar bowling performance at Headingley, where his five-wicket haul was the lone positive.

With Bumrah now essential in the XI for the second Test, Shastri cautioned that India could not afford to fall 0-2 in Edgbaston, and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar made a special appeal to Bumrah. Atherton noted that the third Test at Lord's will start just three days after the second match ends, but Wood concurred with the former India all-rounder.

"They can't afford to fall down 2-0. "Wood stated on the Sky Sports podcast, "So you want your best bowler. I don't believe he's saying, "I'm not playing at Lord's." He will want to play both games, in my opinion. Even if India wins the next one and the score is 1-1, I still believe they will want him to give them the advantage and make the difference. I'm sure he feels the same way; every international bowler wants to get on that board.

Although India may be able to rest Bumrah in Manchester, they must include him in the XI for the second and third Test, according to Atherton.

"First and foremost, they have to choose what to do with Bumrah since every foreign player wants to participate in a Test match at Lord's. Three days after Edgbaston is the Lord's Test. He should definitely compete at Edgbaston in cricketing terms, and I would give Old Trafford a lot of thought because that's the sort of place where pace and reverse swing are extremely crucial. "But as you say, every cricketer wants to play at Lord's and get on that honours board," he added.

The former England hitter concluded by supporting Kuldeep Yadav in the XI, noting that India might have won the series opener if he had participated.

"In my opinion, Kuldeep Yadav ought to play. I believe they would have won the match if they had Kuldeep on their side, he continued.

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