Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill Get Bizarre Advise From Ex-Australian Star Brad Hogg Ahead of 1st Test vs England at Leeds, 'Don't Play Jasprit Bumrah'

India vs England: Team India, led by Shubman Gill, take on England in the first Test at Headingley. But ahead of the game, Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir have got some bizarre piece of advise from former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg. The Australian wants India to not play Bumrah in the opening Test, despite the latter being the spearhead of the attack. This of course has been advised to manage Bumrah's workload for the series. But again, it would be a massive decision if the management actually decide to leave out the pacer. Hogg also reckoned not playing Bumrah in the first Test would help in confusing the English side. 

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Hogg reckons Bumrah can only be played in three Tests, not all five. So, now which are the three Tests he should play is the question the Indian management have to answer as per Hogg. 

'Wouldn't even play him in the first Test match'

"And I don't know where you'd play him in the other three Test matches, but you want to make sure you play him in those crucial games. I probably wouldn't even play him in the first Test match, actually. I'd just go, 'Right, England, we don't have Bumrah.' And you could just see England thinking, 'Oh, they don't have Bumrah – that's good, we don't have to face him.' But then they're going to start worrying about him in the second Test match. And if he turns the tide in the second match, then all of a sudden England are playing catch-up. So I'd add a bit of by-play there," Hogg said while speaking on RevSportz.

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Team India in Transition

Following the Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the team is in transition and there is no denying that. Spotlight would be on newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill. For the unversed, India would be looking to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007.