- By Vishal Pushkar
- Tue, 29 Jul 2025 09:39 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
India vs England: There is no denying the fact that JaspritBumrah remains the most vital cog in India's bowling line-up. His fitness and workload has been a topic of discussion for a while. While addressing the 'elephant in the room', India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak did not rule out JaspritBumrah's participation at the Oval, saying "he is fit as per his load."
Before the start of the series, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir along with captain Shubman Gill confirmed that Bumrah is poised to play three out of five tests.
However, Kotak made it clear that Bumrah's availability will be decided as per discussions between the coach, physio and the captain.
"Bumrah is fit now according to his load. He has bowled one inning in the last match. So that obviously head coach, our physio and captain they will have a discussion and decide. There has been no discussion," Kotak said two days before the game.
Mohammed Siraj's Workload Explained:
Asked about the workload of Mohammed Siraj, who is the only Indian pacer to play all games, Kotak gave a detailed answer.
"So, I don't know what you guys think about the actual workload. So, if I tell you quickly, before the Test series, if a bowler puts in a certain amount of overs per week, that if he's preparing for T20 and putting in 20 overs, 25 overs, 6 overs every day, or putting in 6 overs for five days, that is good enough workload for T20.
"They have a GPS. It shows the record of how many overs the bowler has put in throughout the week. And they're in constant touch with the bowling coach. So, the build-up of the last 4-5 weeks, you need to determine if that there's no spike in it.
"So, what's the spike? If a bowler is putting in 30 overs per week, and suddenly, in the first innings, he's put in 35 overs, then that's the spike in his load. So, the number of overs that Siraj is putting in every week, it's not necessary that it's due to practice.
That load is due to the match as well. So, then, another thing depends on whether Siraj himself, or the physios, or his body feels that, no, I'm tired. Then, they will think about the load. Otherwise, his bowling load is very high, is very good. So, there's no chance of a spike in it," added Kotak.