Former England cricketer Allan Lamb has highlighted the striking difference in India’s white-ball and Test cricket future. He praised India’s dominance in the white-ball formats but raised serious concerns about the young red-ball setup led by Shubman Gill.

Lamb mentioned that the Men in Blue are flying high in limited-overs cricket under Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy, but the cracks are starting to show in Test cricket, especially with the absence of Virat Kohli, Hitman, and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Allan Lamb sounds alarm on India’s future in Test cricket

Under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, India has enjoyed a dream run in limited-overs cricket. After lifting the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024, the Men in Blue went on to clinch the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year in March.

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These twin ICC triumphs were a powerful response to their painful 2023 ODI World Cup final loss to Australia at home. The Indian cricket team has not only rediscovered its winning formula in limited-overs cricket but has also built a team with clarity, balance, and ruthless consistency.

However, both Rohit and Virat, along with Ravindra Jadeja, retired from T20I cricket, but the Men in Blue are still dominating the format with several match-winners ready to grab their chances.

However, the Shubman Gill-led Indian team’s recent five-wicket loss to England in the first Test of the ongoing five-match Test series at Headingley has sparked concerns about their red-ball future.

You’re going to miss Virat Kohli big time: Allan Lamb

And Lamb believes that the Indian team is weak and will struggle without the class and experience of Kohli in the middle and Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian cricket team’s bowling is heavily dependent on Jasprit Bumrah, but the selectors and the team management are very clear with their strategy for the fast bowler.

They will not tire Jasprit Bumrah out to avoid the risk of injury, so he will not play all five Test matches on the England tour as well. Given that, the Englishman feels they will struggle in the red-ball cricket.

Allan Lamb was quoted as saying by PTI, “In one-day cricket, India should win every competition. In Test matches, you’re going to rely a lot on Bumrah, and you’re going to miss Virat Kohli big time.”

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Jasprit Bumrah returns to training ahead of Edgbaston Test

Meanwhile, the Indian team received a big boost ahead of the second Test against England as Jasprit Bumrah returned to training on Saturday, June 28. After sitting out of the first practice session on Friday, Bumrah hit the nets and bowled alongside Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj.

India trails 0-1 in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy after losing the first Test at Headingley. The entire squad was seen sweating it out at the nets, but Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh’s absence from bowling drills had raised concerns about their fitness.

However, Saturday’s session came with good news. All three pacers were seen bowling, with Siraj also continuing his batting work from the previous day. The sight of Bumrah in rhythm was particularly reassuring for India, as they aim to make a comeback in the Edgbaston Test.