By Vivek Prabhakar Singh

Birmingham [UK], July 20 (ANI): Former Indian middle-order batter Suresh Raina hailed pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for his performances during the ongoing series against England away from home, calling him a 'legend'.

He also said that the pacer playing the fourth Test is down to a 'doctor's call' as his workload is under management following a lengthy injury lay-off.

The availability of Bumrah, who is playing only three Tests during the ongoing series against England due to workload management, will be a big talking point as the team bus heads to Manchester for the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

With the series being 2-1 in favour of England, there have been reports that Bumrah could feature in the fourth Test to give India a chance to level the series.

Speaking to ANI at Birmingham, where he is due to his participation in the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL), Raina said about Bumrah playing the fourth Test, 'I think it is a doctor's call to be very honest. I know my body. I know my doctor. I know what guidelines he is giving me, how to play the game.'

'So I think with Bumrah, I think he is a legend. I think he knows his body. He knows his workload, how to manage himself and look at his performance at Lord's, he registered his place in the Lord's Honours Board (with a five-wicket haul),' he added.

Raina said that while a little rest is important for Bumrah since he is playing Test cricket after a long injury layoff following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia earlier this year, in the next Test, the team management would like to have him in the team.

'Rishabh Pant had an injury on his finger to. So it is very important for both of them (to play fourth Test). If they have to draw the series or if they have to try to win the team, then I think it will be very important for both of them to feature in the fourth Test,' he added.

In two Tests so far, Bumrah has taken 12 wickets at an average of 21.00, with two five-wicket hauls and is the second-highest wicket-taker so far. Bumrah has been extremely prolific over last two years or so, winning the 'Player of the Tournament' award during T20 World Cup 2024 for his 15 wickets at an average of 8.26, taking a massive 32 wickets in five Tests during a dissappointing BGT for India in late-2024 to early 2025, even winning the first Test at Perth as a captain. He finished the year 2024 with 86 international wickets in 21 matches at an average of just over 13 and five five-wicket hauls.

Speaking ahead of the fourth Test, Indian assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said about Bumrah as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, 'We will make that call (on Bumrah) in Manchester still. We know we have got him for one of the last two Tests. It is pretty obvious that the series on the line now in Manchester so there will be a leaning towards playing him,' he added.

'But again, we have got to look at all the factors: how many days of cricket are we going to get up there, what do we feel is our best chance of winning that game, and then how that fits in together with The Oval. And looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series,' he continued.

Pant has been the second-highest run-getter in the series with 425 runs in six innings at an average of 70.83, with two centuries and two fifties. His runs have come at a stunning strike rate of over 78. He faced an injury while wicketkeeping at Lord's. While Dhruv Jurel took up the wicketkeeping duties, Pant batted, scoring 74 and 9 despite his injury.

Speaking on Pant, Ten Doeschate sounded hopeful, 'He (Pant) will bat in Manchester before the Test. Look, I do not think you are going to keep Rishabh out of the Test no matter what. He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test, and it is only going to get easier and easier on his finger. And keeping is obviously the last part of the process to make sure that he can keep. We do not want to go through that again where we have to replace the keeper halfway through innings,' he added.

The assistant coach also hinted on Jurel, saying, 'Jurel's in the equation, but I mean obviously if Rishabh's fit, he plays the next Test and does both,' he noted. (ANI)