Jasprit Bumrah has remained the axis around which conversations have spun, whether steaming in with the ball or sitting out in plain view. Ever since it was revealed that he would feature in only three of the five Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, a cautious call to preserve his body post his back injury in Australia, questions have trailed the decision like shadows.
Was it a rigid plan? Who called the shots? And, with the series on the line at The Oval, and with India having bowled just once in Manchester, there were raised hopes of his participation in the series finale.
Bumrah, having fulfilled his quota of appearances, was absent again.
India's batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate acknowledged the noise, calling it a "complex issue", but pushed back on the idea that Bumrah was cherry-picking games. "You know, he did say he was going to play three games.
He left it up to us which three he played. We've tried to manage the situation," ten Doeschate said on Thursday July 31.
With 14 wickets from three games including two five-fers and an average of 26, Bumrah is behind only Ben Stokes in the wicket-taking charts. But in those three games he's bowled 119.2 overs, a substantial load on what have been mostly flat surfaces.
India's reliance on him is underscored by the fact that while he has bowled nearly 40 overs a Test, he's sent down only 19 overs fewer than Mohammed Siraj, who himself has been overworked in all the four Tests so far. Ten Doeschate said the team management felt it was important to respect where he's body is at.