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Jasprit Bumrah of India (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

TimesofIndia.com in Birmingham: Before they commence preparations for the second Test vs England from July 2, the Indian cricket team need to take that tough Jasprit Bumrah call. Well before the side arrived in the UK for the five-match series, it was decided that the ace seamer will only play three Tests to manage his body and workload. Which ones weren’t revealed at that stage by chairman of men’s senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar, and Bumrah maintained the three Test bit in an interview with Sky Sports without revealing too many details. So did head coach Gautam Gambhir during the post-match presser in Leeds.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Bumrah sent down 44 overs during the Headingley Test and while the side is enjoying a two-day break in Birmingham, the team management, and the seamer himself, need to take that rest call. There is little turnaround time between the second and third Test and there will be a strong temptation to play him at Lord’s from July 10. If he continues to play at Birmingham, playing the third Test goes out of the window because there will be only a four-day gap before he wears the whites again.Taking a cue from the schedule and Gambhir’s comments in the press conference, there is a bright possibility of the second Test being the break fixture for the star seamer. The head coach had said that the series scoreline will not affect which Tests Bumrah plays and misses, and that call will be taken based on his workload as they need to manage him better for the cricket which is ahead of them.

Former India head coach Shastri felt it could be a tough call to take as there will be a temptation to have him play in Birmingham, and level the series, and also have an eye at Lord’s.“Bumrah said he’ll play three Test matches. Now, which of the three he’ll play, that’s, you know, another question to be asked. I think if he takes a break, it’ll be the next one, because he’ll definitely want to play at Lord’s, right? And there’s a break, and then you go into Lord’s, then there’s a break, and then there’s a choice between Manchester and the same. It could be 2-0 down. So that is the problem. I think he has got to play,” Shastri said on Sky Sports Cricket.

But if the decision making remains on the expected lines – Bumrah missing Birmingham and staying fresh for Lord’s – the other headache is going to be who replaces him for the second Test. India lacked bite, even with Bumrah, in the series opener and now a tough replacement call could await them. Former England quick Stuart Broad wants Arshdeep Singh to be drafted in for Bumrah, and the calls for Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion are only getting louder because of what he brings to the table. The direction which the Indian cricket team takes will be clear in the next few days but one thing is for sure – it could be a new-look bowling attack which takes the field for the Birmingham Test.

IND vs ENG Series Schedule:

The Dragon capsule carrying the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew — Grace — cruised silently through space, its nose cone open and docking sensors primed, and eventually docked with the International Space Station Thursday — marking the first time an Indian has entered the orbiting lab. Soft docking was achieved around 4.02pm IST, and overall docking procedure was completed at 4.16pm.Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla made history. Grace, launched yesterday from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), executed a series of precisely timed orbit-raising manoeuvres before it aligned with the ISS. The 28-hour chase through space is typical of Dragon missions, but for Shukla, it’s an extraordinary voyage.Follow live updates on Axiom-4 missionA serving Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, he’s now flying not just on behalf of a nation, but also on behalf of a new space era.The mission symbolises a maturing space ecosystem, where private firms are shaping access to low-Earth orbit. With NAsa’s blessing and SpaceX’s Dragon at the helm, Ax-4 represents a fusion of old expertise and new ambition. It’s no longer just space agencies launching astronauts; it’s space companies partnering across borders.For India, this is also a step forward in human spaceflight. While Gaganyaan, the country’s maiden crewed mission, is still being readied, Shukla’s flight underscores the growing opportunities for Indian astronauts to fly aboard international platforms — training, learning, and strengthening capabilities before they eventually lift off from Indian soil.After hours of cruise, once Grace was within range, it began a slow and measured approach. Every manoeuvre went as planned and at each stage, ground controllers and onboard systems assessed progress and gave “go” commands.Also read: Shukla makes history with Axiom-4 docking at ISS, emotional reactions from family in Lucknow; videosGiven a clean approach, the ground station and ISS allowed Grace to skip the halts at “waypoint-1” and “waypoint-2”, which advanced the docking by nearly half-an-hour. At around 20 metres, Grace made its final approach, using a suite of laser-based sensors and cameras, aligned precisely with the docking port on the station. The spacecraft then moved forward at just a few centimetres per second and made contact.The soft-docking was achieved at 4.02pm IST and minutes later, declaring the arrival of the crew at the ISS. Minutes later, the hard capture was also completed. The process to connect the ISS umbilicals began and ISS declared that the docking process was complete at 4.16pm.The crew will now wait for mandatory leak checks and hatch opening procedures that will allow the pressure inside Grace to be the same as that in ISS — matching pressure levels at sea level on Earth. Once this is complete, they will float into ISS.