England pacer Mark Wood believes Jasprit Bumrah will feature in both the second and third Tests of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, despite India’s cautious workload management plans for their premier fast bowler. With India trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, Wood feels the visitors cannot afford to rest Bumrah at this critical stage.

Speaking to Michael Atherton on Sky Sports, Wood backed Bumrah to take the field at Edgbaston and Lord’s, citing both strategic necessity and personal motivation.

“He’s going to play them two, I’m telling you. He’s got to, because they can’t afford to go 2-0 down. You want your best bowler. There’s no way he’s saying, ‘I’m not playing at Lord’s.’ Every overseas bowler dreams of getting on that honors board—he’ll be no different,” said Mark Wood.

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India’s team management, including chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and skipper Shubman Gill, had indicated ahead of the series that Bumrah would be carefully rotated, featuring in a maximum of three Tests. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Monday that Bumrah was available for selection, but the final call would be made ahead of the Edgbaston Test starting Wednesday.

Michael Atherton agreed that Bumrah’s presence is vital, especially at Edgbaston and Old Trafford, where his skill set is best suited. However, he acknowledged that Bumrah would not want to miss Lord’s.

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“Cricketing-wise, Edgbaston and Old Trafford are ideal for him, but the lure of the Lord’s honors board is hard to resist,” Atherton said. He also noted that India’s spin options needed a rethink. “If they had played Kuldeep Yadav at Headingley, they might have won that game,” he added.

Should Bumrah be rested, India have Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh in the squad, both waiting for an opportunity to step up.