India captain Shubman Gill has stated that Jasprit Bumrah's presence for the series-concluding fifth Test against England would be a huge morale booster for the team, although the plan was to restrict the pace sensation to just three games in the tour.
Bumrah, who had previously been rested with a stress reaction, was set to play just three Tests in this lengthy England tour to ensure he did not overexert himself and aggravate the injury. He missed the second Test at Edgbaston but played in the first, third, and fourth matches.
With the series well-balanced at 2-1 in England's favour following the rain-affected draw in Manchester, India is now staring at a must-win situation at The Oval to make the five-match series level.
"If he feels like he's fully fit and available for us, I think it would be a great deal for us," Gill said to the BBC's 'Test Match Special'.
Meanwhile, Gill was optimistic about the strength of India's bowling depth: "If he's not playing, I still think we have the right kind of bowling attack."
Bumrah worked a hard stint at the fourth Test at Old Trafford, bowling 33 overs. He now has nearly four and a half days of recovery time before the last Test begins on July 31. In the series so far, the pace bowler has bowled 119.4 overs in five innings—nearly 24 per innings—and taken 14 wickets, tying with Mohammed Siraj as India's leading wicket-taker. Two of the five-wicket efforts are included in his haul.
With his contribution, the team will struggle to exclude him for the series decider.
Former England skipper Alastair Cook praised Gill for maintaining Bumrah's availability a secret, opining that it was strategic to do so.
"Even if he isn't playing, you would not tell people now, simply on a purely tactical reason," Cook said.
He opined that India might have made a mistake to be so open in the past: "They made a mistake at the start of the series declaring him to play just three, because you get put into a situation like here where the series remains in the balance."
"If he's not fit to play, not playing is the right decision," Cook summed up.
India team head coach Gautam Gambhir also spoke, asserting that all of the fast bowlers in the team are fit and that no decision had been made yet on Bumrah's participation for the final game.
"All the fast bowlers are there. There is no injury scare," Gambhir asserted on Sunday.
"We never discussed the combination for the last Test. There has been no decision taken on whether Jasprit Bumrah is going to play or not. Whoever does play, they will attempt and do the job for the country," he further added.
India's bowling options have been tested throughout the series. After the Lord's Test, Arshdeep Singh got injured in the hand, Akash Deep was kept out with a groin complaint, and Mohammed Siraj felt general fatigue. All-rounder Nitesh Kumar Reddy was also declared out of the series altogether.
To counter the long list of injuries, India summoned reinforcements from home. Anshul Kamboj was airlifted in and was picked over Prasidh Krishna in the playing XI.
The last Test at The Oval is set to be a turning-point game, with Bumrah's possible involvement adding more drama to a closely-fought series.
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