India have provided an update on Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness after England won a thrilling first Test in style.
Shubman Gill’s side appeared to be in the driving seat at Headingley after posting 471 and then leaving England 371 to win in the fourth innings.
But India’s bowlers were largely ineffective on day five and England reached the target with five wickets to spare.
England’s second highest run-chase was inspired by Ben Duckett’s brilliant 149 and contributions from Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes.
Bumrah, arguably the best bowler in the world, enjoyed a superb first-half to the Test, taking 5-83 in England’s first innings, but then went wicket-less in the second.
The 31-year-old, who has been recovering from a recent back injury, spent some of the final day off the field and was not given the new ball when England were edging towards victory.
This sparked concern over Bumrah’s fitness and availability for the second Test, which starts next Wednesday at Edgbaston, but India insist he ‘should be fine’ to play.
It was never the plan for Bumrah to play all five Tests but India will be reluctant to be without him next week as England seek to open up a commanding 2-0 lead in Birmingham.
‘He is fine,’ Gill told BBC’s Test Match Special. ‘We will see closer to the next Test, but he should be fine.’
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Gill was asked about India’s plan for Bumrah and said: ‘It’s more game by game.
‘There’s a good break after this Test match so once we’re close to the match, we’ll see.’
On the demoralising defeat more generally, Gill added: ‘A brilliant Test match, we had our chances in the match but a few dropped catches and out lower order didn’t contribute as much as we’d like to but really proud of our effort.
‘Yesterday we thought we would get up to 430 or 435 and then declare but unfortunately, our last six wickets scored about 20-25 runs, which is never a good sign.
‘After their brilliant opening partnership, we did have our chances but it didn’t go our way in this match.
‘Chances don’t come easily, especially on wickets like these and we dropped quite a few.
‘But we’ve got a young team, a learning one and hopefully we’ll improve on these aspects in the next matches.’
Jasprit Bumrah the ‘best bowler in history’
Before the first Test got underway, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan hailed Bumrah as the ‘best bowler in history’.
‘I’ve never seen anyone bowl with such an action,’ he told Metro. ‘With so much pace, with so much accuracy, so much movement, so much skill, so much thought and across all the formats of the game.
‘Yeah, I think he’s the best I’ve seen. I know there are bowlers from the past that I’ve never even seen other than clips on YouTube, but from my time being a pro from ’92 to being a broadcaster now in 2025, he’s the best I’ve seen.
‘He’s got that release which is closer. So, he obviously seems that little bit quicker, because he is quick, but also because he releases it that little bit later. He’s a genius.’
Bumrah arrived in England earlier this month with 205 Test wickets to his name from 45 matches at an average of 19.40.
He took another five at Headingley but still ended up on the losing team and Stokes reflected on a ‘mint Test match’ in the post-match presentation.
‘What a mint Test match,’ he said. ‘To get to day five and come home with the win is amazing and what a game to be a part of.
‘There was skill from both teams, runs galore and to finish it off, a great start to the series. We know how fast this ground is and it was an awesome game of cricket. from India as well.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.