Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has been facing flak for his decision to not play ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test at Edgbaston, with the visitors trailing 0-1 in the series. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, South Africa and England fast bowling greats Dale Steyn and Stuart Broad have already raised eyebrows on Bumrah's omission from the Edgbaston Test despite the pacer getting a one week break. Joining the long list is former Sri Lanka captain and legendary batter Kumar Sangakkara.

In the first Test at Headingley, no other Indian bowlers than Bumrah showed the ability to strike back and keep England at bay. The hosts chased down a 371 runs target after negotiating early challenge from Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. India dominated the majority of the Test, scoring 835 runs, including five hundreds. But dropped catches and poor bowling cost India the match on the fifth day.

While Bumrah's workload management is pre-planned to avoid any injury concern, former cricketers did not understand the logic of not playing him even after a break of a week. India fielded Akash Deep as a replacement for Bumrah, while Nitish Reddy replaced Shardul Thakuar. Batter Sai Sudharsan has been replaced by all-rounder Washington Sundar. Karun Nair has been promoted to No. 3 to adjust the batting order.

"Interesting to understand how the decision is being made and who makes it? Is it after a consultation with the players or the physios? It depends on whether the Lord's Test is more important than the series? The series is on the line," Sangakkara said on Sky Sports.

"If we see the score, it's an even day, perhaps a little bit more tilted towards England with the five wickets down. So I would have expected the coach to have gone to Bumrah and say 'Yes, we thought you might play the 3rd and the 5th Test, but we're going 1 and 2. Take a look if you can play the third if you can, because then you've got two weeks off before the next one," he added.

However, with India eyeing a comeback in the five-match Test series, the decision to drop Bumrah and plan to use his expertise in the third Test at Lord's did not sit well with Sangakkara, especially when India won only one Test and drew one while losing seven Tests. Check grammar, spelling but don't change facts, figure and quotes