The Indian cricket team will be facing a huge blow ahead of the crucial Lord’s Test against England, as their premier fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah has been officially ruled out, which was confirmed by the bowling coach Bharat Arun during a press conference. 

On Tuesday, during a press conference in London, Arun confirmed that the speedster, who didn’t get to feature in the first Test at Edgbaston, has resumed bowling in the nets but is not match-fit and will not be available for selection for the second Test beginning Thursday. He explained, “He (Bumrah) is bowling right now but it’s too early to put him into a game like situation. We are waiting for the plaster to come off. He is out of contention for the second Test.”

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Bumrah, who fractured his thumb during the first T20 International against Ireland, underwent surgery in Leeds and was selected in the Test squad with the hope that he would recover before the commencement of the second Test. Subsequently, Shardul Thakur was named as his replacement for the limited overs matches and added to the Test squad for the first three matches as well.

While announcing the squad for the first three Tests, Indian selectors have said, “Jasprit Bumrah who has been included in the squad, will be available for selection from the 2nd Test onwards based on his fitness.”

The Indian bowling attack though did fairly well without the young seamer in the first Test as they managed to take all 20 English wickets with spinner R Ashwin and speedster Ishant Sharma sharing 13 wickets among them in the Birmingham Test. That though was not enough to save Virat Kohli’s side from a 31-run defeat in the series opener.