Gautam Gambhir And Shubman Gill Sent Brutal Shardul Thakur Message Ahead of Edgbaston Test: 'The Collapse Won't Happen'

The second India vs England Test is just hovering on the horizon. Anticipation has been pretty high regarding the Indian lineup for Edgbaston as Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill are expected to shuffle things in order to restore parity in the five-match Test series.

Shardul Thakur Is Tipped To Sit Out In Second Test

Shardul Thakur's participation in the second Test match remains a doubt. The bowling all-rounder didn't have the best of outings in Leeds, while he also failed to get the best out of his bat. In the last practice session, Shardul wasn't involved heavily, and it is highly unlikely that he would return to Edgbaston.

Now, Irfan Pathan has called for his exclusion as the former India fast bowler batted for the inclusion of Washington Sundar in the starting lineup.

On his YouTube channel he said, “There were many factors, but the most disappointing thing I found was that he cannot let the collapse happen if he is batting at No. 8. Since Shardul didn't look that comfortable while batting, the Indian team have the option of Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. Your batting will get lengthened if you play Washington Sundar at No. 8. The collapse won't happen.”

Will Jasprit Bumrah Feature At Edgbaston?

There have also been uncertainty regarding the availability of Jasprit Bumrah at Edgbaston. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate already confirmed that the 31-year-old will be considered for selection in Birmingham. But with a mere three-day gap between the second and third Test match at Lord's, will Gautam Gambhir gamble with his bowling spearhead?

Also Read: India Predicted XI For 2nd Test vs England: Nitish Kumar Reddy To Replace Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh To Debut, Jasprit Bumrah To Feature At Edgbaston?

Bumrah has practised in a full-fledged manner in Birmingham, but Gambhir already emphasised the importance of managing Bumrah's workload, and their management will take no change, given it is a very long road ahead in the current World Test Championship cycle.

Also Read: Toss In Edgbaston Likely To Impact The Result Of The IND vs ENG 2nd Test, Here's Why Shubman Gill Will Want The Coin Flip To Go His Way