Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing the Mumbai Test against New Zealand?

Rohit Sharma lost his second toss in a row as Tom Latham opted to bat first. The wicket in Mumbai is slated to take a turn from the second day itself according to the experts. India made just one change as pacer Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the game. in his place, Mohammed Siraj was drafted into the team to open the bowling with Akash Deep. 

According to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, the reason Jasprit Bumrah missed the final Test was due to illness. It was earlier reported that Harshit Rana could make his debut in Mumbai but the team management went in for Siraj. New Zealand on the other hand made two changes to their side. 

It is a key game for India if they have to keep their World Test Championship hopes alive. Win in Mumbai is also essential because Rohit Sharma and his side will want to avoid a whitewash. This is just the second time that Rohit Sharma will play a Test match in Mumbai. His last game at this venue was against West Indies in 2013 which was Sachin Tendulkar’s final game for India. 

Can India avoid whitewash in Mumbai?

Speaking at the toss, Rohit Sharma said “We understand and accept that we haven't played well through the series. Gives us another opportunity to try and correct those things. Looks like a good pitch. Hopefully, we can restrict them as quickly as possible and then focus with the bat”

India’s skipper also added “Our focus is on this Test match. We want to try and play well in this Test match. In the back of your mind, you need to look at what lies ahead, but it's important to stay in present, focus on what we need to to today and worry about all those things later. It's important that we play our best cricket which we haven't in this series”

Kiwi skipper Tom Latham said “We are gonna have a bat. Looks a reasonably good surface, hopefully, put some runs on the board again and put a little bit of pressure later on. Definitely focusing on this game. We spoke about it before the second Test in Pune. What we did in Bangalore was great, but we had to switch our focus quickly to that second Test and nothing changes. A new opportunity this game”

Latham went on to say “I don't think we played all that badly. Unfortunately you can just fall on the wrong side of the result. I don't think we have changed a lot in the last two weeks. We have tried to keep things simple and play our brand of cricket. We are hoping for more of the same this game. It's about adapting to the surface as quickly as possible. Mitch Santner has got a little bit of a side strain. Ish Sodhi comes in. Matt Henry is fit and he comes in for Tim Southee”

New Zealand XI - Tom Latham(C), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(WK), Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, William Orourke

India XI - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj