The India-Sri Lanka two-Test rubber kicks off on Saturday in Galle, and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to a knee injury will be felt deeply. It’s not that India have not done well before without Bumrah. Two series particularly come to mind. In the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he was ruled out of the final Test, but Mohammed Siraj and Co. put up a spirited show in Brisbane to win the fourth Test and the series 2-1. Then last year in England, in the fifth Test, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna inspired India to a thrilling win to help draw the series 2-2 at the Oval.
But those were pacer-friendly wickets in many ways. In Sri Lanka, the wickets are likely to support spinners. And if on such pitches a team has a bowler of the calibre of Bumrah, they take the field high on confidence. Even on not-so-great days, Bumrah has the ability to come up with magical balls. On flat wickets, just when you give up and have no hopes, Bumrah often comes up with something extraordinary. A great yorker or a delivery that comes back in unexpectedly to trap the batsman in front of the wickets. As a team, you can always be hopeful — even if things have not started as per expectations — and wait for the ball to get old and start reversing, and can look to Bumrah to bring the side back into the contest.
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Going by the conditions in Galle, India are likely to go in with three spinners and two pacers, with Siraj and Krishna set to shoulder fast-bowling duties. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar could be those three spin bowlers. But they will be a little tempted to play Gurnoor Brar in light of his match-winning ten-for against Sri Lanka A at the same venue early last month.
Bumrah’s ability to switch swiftly!
The biggest worry for the Indian camp will be that they haven’t played much red-ball cricket in recent months. This entire year so far, they have played just one Test, against Afghanistan in early June, right after the IPL. How quickly they adapt to the format, having played so much white-ball cricket in the past several months, is going to be key from an Indian point of view. That’s where Bumrah could have made a major difference. No matter what the format is, he is spot on right from the outset. It’s quite remarkable how perfectly he switches to a totally different format without any fuss. Having such a bowler in the ranks is a huge advantage. Last month he featured in his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final but he bowled brilliantly and played a big role in India’s win against England. When he was ruled out of the final ODI at Lord’s, it was all over bar the shouting for Shubman Gill’s men. England went on to score almost 400 and India’s fate was sealed.
If Bumrah was featuring in this series, India would have been clear favourites to take the rubber but now they have to do a lot of things right across various departments. It’s going to be teamwork. There will be no one to look to in the times of crisis.
Bumrah’s Test record says it all: 234 wickets in just 52 games. He has been India’s biggest match player in the last several years, much bigger than Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. For a team that is languishing in 5th on the World Test Championship points table, there can’t be a worse thing than not having its best player in such an important series. India’s task is definitely cut out now.