Legendary India National Cricket Team skipper Sourav Ganguly is confident of the Shubman Gill-led side winning the Test series against the England National Cricket Team if one ‘Jasprit Bumrah’ condition is met.
Sourav Ganguly said that the fitness of the pacer spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will decide the outcome for the India National Cricket Team in the high-voltage Test series on English soil.
Jasprit Bumrah BLOCKED from playing all 5 Tests against England
The premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, has officially been blocked by the BCCI medical team from playing all five Test matches in the series against the England National Cricket Team.
This has happened because of the injury issues that the pacer has suffered over the years. His most recent injury issue occurred during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, as he hurt his back and was ruled out of the game for months.
Bumrah worked hard and achieved full fitness to make a brilliant contribution with the ball for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League 2025, but he has advised against playing all five Test matches in England.
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar had revealed that the right-arm pacer is in line to play three out of five matches against the Three Lions, and the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, has said that they are yet to decide in which matches they will play Bumrah.
If Bumrah stays fit even for four tests, will win this series – Sourav Ganguly
Speaking to Boria Majumdar on RevSportz, Sourav Ganguly said that India can win the series in England even in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma if Bumrah and the batting line-up fire. He said:
“Yes, sure. We just need two things, batting well and [Jasprit] Bumrah remaining fit,” Ganguly said. “Yes, why not? We won in Australia, in Melbourne (2020-21), with a young batting line-up, having no [Virat] Kohli, no Rohit Sharma. So, I do not see why we cannot win.”
“Absolutely. Very inexperienced batting line-up at the moment on paper. Obviously, on field, it’s different. With [Joe] Root, [Harry] Brook, [Ben] Stokes, [Ben] Duckett, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse, it’s a good Test team. But still, nothing stops India from winning. There is no one favourite in sports. India, if they work hard and Bumrah stays fit even for four tests, will win this series,” he added.
You’ve got to look out for him and not make him bowl more than 12-13 overs – Sourav Ganguly
However, Sourav Ganguly advised skipper Shubman Gill to use Bumrah cautiously and manage his workload properly. He stated:
“You’ve got to look out for him and not make him bowl more than 12-13 overs. I believe four fast bowlers are important. Here, others will have to be the warhorses like Siraj, Arshdeep. Not sure about a Nitish or a Shardul Thakur. Maybe they can get some runs with the bat, but I think India need to back the seven batters and then back the bowlers, because we need 20 wickets to win Test matches.”
When asked about his predictions, the legendary India skipper said that England would enter the series as favorites. He stated:
“I consider England favourites, but then I don’t believe in favourites. If India bat well, they have a chance.”
