Ravi Shastri was evidently left fuming after India announced three changes in their playing XI for the second Test against England, which is taking place at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham from Wednesday (July 2). With the visitors 1-0 down in the series, the Shubman Gill-led side needs to win the game or face the prospect of needing to win three games in a row to clinch a series win.

Jasprit Bumrah missed out due to workload management reasons, with Akashdeep replacing him. Sai Sudharsan, who made his debut in the Leeds Test was dropped with Washington Sundar coming in while Nitish Kumar Reddy came in for Shardul Thakur as India proritised batting depth instead of having wicket-taking bowlers.

Shastri was furious and questioned the decision despite a gap of eight days and questioned the Indian captain Gill's explanation of saving him for the Lord's Test. For those unversed, there is gap of just three days between the second and third Test.

“This is a very important match, they’ve had a week off. I’m little surprised Bumrah is not playing this game. It should be taken out of the player’s hand. It should be the captain and the head coach that should decide who should be playing the 11. This is an important game in the context of the series, he should be playing this game more than anything else. Lord’s can come later. This is the important game where you have to counter-punch almost straightaway," said Shastri on SKY Sports.

“Play this one. Make it 1-1 and then give him the option: you want to rest at Lord’s, rest at Lord’s. You think he’ll rest at Lord’s? No chance if you win this.If you look at the run, India has had, this becomes a very, very important test match. You’ve lost three against New Zealand, you’ve lost three against Australia. You’ve lost the first Test match here and you want to get back to winning ways. You have the best fast bowler in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest, it’s something very hard to believe," Shastri added.

Shastri also claimed it was harsh to drop Sudharsan after an impressive display at Leeds while also questioning to move to leave out Kuldeep Yadav, who continues to miss out.

"I am a little surprised Sai Sudharsan is dropped. He played really well in that Test match. Kuldeep Yadav, that guy has to wait. Poor chap," Shastri stated.