India lost the first Test against England despite centuries and Bumrah's five-wicket haul. Calls for Bumrah to play all Tests grow, but workload concerns persist, with the coach confirming he'll play only two more.

Team India, under the leadership of Shubman Gill, did not have an ideal start to the Test tour of England as the visitors lost the opening match of the series by five wickets at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday, June 24.

After being bundled out for 364 in the second innings, Team India set a 371-run target for England to chase. However, the visitors failed to defend the total as the hosts chased it down in 82 overs on Day 5.

Ben Duckett (149) and Zak Crawley (65) laid the foundation with a solid 188-run stand for the opening wicket before a 73-run unbeaten partnership between Joe Root (53*) and Jamie Smith (44*) for the sixth wicket sealed the victory for England. India lost the match despite five centuries across two innings and Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul in the first innings, which prevented England from surpassing India’s first innings total of 471.

Chorus for Bumrah to play all 5 Tests

As Team India suffered a defeat in the first Test of the five-match series against England, calls have grown for ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah to play the remaining five Tests, given the visitors’ bowling line-up was toothless and lacked penetration in his absence during the key phase of the second innings at Headingley.

After Bumrah picked his fifer in the first innings, former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar urged pace spearhead to play all five Tests of the series against England. In the second innings, India’s over-reliance on Jasprit Bumrah was exposed as the pacer went wicketless while conceding 57 runs in his spell of 19 overs. Though Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur took wickets, it was already late as England’s top order inflicted enough damage to take the game beyond India’s reach.

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With calls growing for Jasprit Bumrah to play all the matches in the Test series, India head coach Gautam Gambhir, speaking at the press conference after the match, highlighted workload concerns for Jasprit Bumrah, while clarifying that the pace spearhead will play only two more Tests after Headingley.

Before the Test series against England, Jasprit Bumrah confirmed that he would not be playing all five Tests, as a reason for his decline to take up India’s Test captaincy offer.

Team India gets a big warning ahead of Edgbaston

After the Headingley Test defeat, Team India will shift their focus toward the Edgbaston Test, which will take place on July 2. However, former India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri has sounded a warning to the visitors if the team management decides to sit out Bumrah for the second Test in Birmingham.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the Headingley Test, Ravi Shastri feels that resting India’s pace spearhead in the Edgbaston Test might lead to another defeat for the Shubman Gill-led side.

“I think if he takes a break, it'll be the next one, because he'll definitely want to play at Lord's, right? And there's a break, and then you go into Lord's, then there's a break, and then there's a choice between Manchester and the same.” Shastri said.

“It could be 2-0 down. So that is the problem. I think he has got to play,” he added.

Team India management has been careful with Jasprit Bumrah’s workload after the pacer suffered a back injury in the Sydney Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in January this year, which sidelined him for three months before making a comeback in the IPL 2025.

India should have ‘knockout punch’ in the Edgbaston Test

After India lost the first Test at Headingley, Ravi Shastri reckoned that the visitors needed to have a ‘knockout punch’ to bounce back in the Edgbaston Test, while highlighting India’s series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand and relinquishing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in 10 years.

“It will be a tough pill to swallow because I was just telling him, back in the commentary box, that we lost 3-0 against New Zealand, lost a series in Australia. Now, this is a tough series. You had your opportunity to go one up here, you know, with England having problems with their bowling attack, the injuries that they have. And you've blown it,” the former India coach said.

“You're going to go and show some real character. And the knockout punch has to come in the very next Test match. If that doesn't happen, then you're really looking down. So whenever there's a counter punch, you're down. That has to happen quite immediately. So they have to realise that,” he added.