The five-match Test series between India and England for the ‘Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy’ is heating up now – both on and off the field. After 3 closely fought Test matches home team England are 2-1 up in the series with two matches to go. Much like first Test at Leeds Shubman Gill’s Team India dominated most of the third Test match at Lord’s last week but disappointingly failed to chase down a modest target of 193 runs in the final innings to lose by 22 runs. Now after more than a week’s break Team India will take on England in the 4th Test at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester from July 23. The question of everyone’s mind currently is whether India’s bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be available for this must-win Test match at Manchester. Bumrah has been scheduled to play in only three out of the five Tests in this series according to his ‘workload management’ but former India captain and head coach Anil Kumble believes that Bumrah should definitely play in the remaining two games. Speaking on ‘Follow The Blues’ JioHotstar expert Anil Kumble weighed in on the importance of Bumrah’s availability for the remainder of the Test series. “I would certainly push for Bumrah to play the next game because that’s crucial. If he doesn’t play and India end up losing the Test that’s it the series would be done and dusted. Bumrah should feature in both the remaining Tests” Kumble said. “Yes he mentioned earlier that he would only play three matches but there is a long break after this. He does not need to be part of the home series if he wants rest. But right now Bumrah should be playing the next two” former India head coach added. Leaning toward playing Jasprit Bumrah at Manchester: India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate It is still unclear whether Bumrah will be able to play in back-to-back Test matches but India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealed that the team management are inclined at playing the Mumbai Indians pacer in the Manchester game. Speaking on JioHotstar show ‘Follow The Blues’ India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate shared his thoughts on the team’s decision-making process regarding Bumrah’s availability for the final two Tests of the series: “We will make that call about Bumrah in Manchester. We know we have got him available for one of the last two Tests and it is pretty obvious that with the series on the line in Manchester that’s where we are leaning towards playing him” Ten Doeschate said after a training session in Beckenham. “But again we have got to consider all the factors how many days of cricket we are likely to get there what we feel gives us the best chance of winning and then how that fits in with the game at The Oval. We are looking at the last two matches holistically as part of the larger series picture” he added. Dhruv Jurel in equation for Manchester Test Meanwhile Rishabh Pant is yet to fully recover from the finger injury he suffered in the Lord’s Test. Pant injured his little finger while attempting to grab a delivery off Jasprit Bumrah on Day 1 of the third Test. Dhruv Jurel replaced Pant behind the stumps for the rest of the game. Ryan ten Doeschate revealed that Pant might be fit to bat in Manchester but may only be available as a specialist batter with Jurel in line to play his 5th Test as a wicket-keeper. If Jurel comes in then Karun Nair will possibly have to make way for him. “He will bat in Manchester before the Test. I don’t think anything is going to keep Rishabh out of the match no matter what. He batted through quite a lot of pain during the third Test and from here on it is only going to get easier in terms of the discomfort in his finger. Wicket-keeping is obviously the final stage of the recovery process; we need to ensure that he can keep comfortably” Ten Doeschate said. “We don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier where we had to replace the keeper mid-innings. Pant has been given an adequate amount of rest and we are just trying to give his finger as much time as possible to heal. Hopefully he’ll be good to go in Manchester by the first training session. Dhruv Jurel is definitely in the equation. But obviously Rishabh is fatigued. That said he will play the next Test and do both — bat and keep wickets” he added.