India pacer released from squad for the fourth England Test
As a part of India's workload management policy a key player has been rested for the fourth Test against England, beginning 23 February.
Jasprit Bumrah will not participate in the fourth Test against England, which is set to be played in Ranchi from 23 February. The pacer has been released from the squad and did not fly to Ranchi from Rajkot on Tuesday. Bumrah's availability for the fifth and final Test is yet to be determined.
The decision to rest Bumrah is part of India's workload managerment policy. Mohammed Siraj was also rested for the second Test in Visakhapatnam based on the same policy.
Bumrah is currently the leading wicket-taker in the series with 17 wickets in six innings at an average of 13.64.
In another significant blow, KL Rahul will sit out the fourth Test as well and his participation in the final game is subject to fitness.
Mukesh Kumar, who was released by the management for the third Test to participate in domestic cricket for his Ranji team Bengal, is expected to rejoin the squad for the fourth Test.
India are currently leading the five-match series 2-1. After England won the first Test in Hyderabad, India bounced back to register big wins in the second (by 106 runs) and third (by 434 runs) Tests.
India are also second on the World Test Championship Standings with a PCT of 59.52%, while England are languishing near the bottom in eighth on 21.87%.
**India squad for the fourth Test: **Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.