After a final decision was made, Jasprit Bumrah would not be participating in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, thus delaying his return to action for India. After suffering another setback, Bumrah may require an additional month to get up to match fitness, raising questions about whether he will be available for the first Test against Australia in Nagpur on February 9.
Bumrah has been recovering at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) of the BCCI in Bengaluru since September of last year when a stress reaction in his back forced him out of play.
Before making his international comeback, Bumrah was supposed to go through match-simulation workloads at the NCA; it is believed that he passed the test in Bengaluru. However, in Mumbai, he experienced tightness in his side after undertaking comparable workloads two days in a row.
Bumrah will now receive rest and rehabilitation to be prepared to attend India’s training camp, which will start on February 1 in preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against Australia. The ODI and T20I series against New Zealand that starts on January 18 will almost probably be missed by him.
The management of the Indian squad is still upbeat about Bumrah’s readiness for the Tests against Australia, which are crucial because both teams are favorites to go to the World Test Championship final in June. Since the lone Test against England in Birmingham in July, several important players, including skipper Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and Bumrah, have not participated in a Test match.
Rohit Sharma said on the eve of the first ODI against Sri Lanka, “It’s an unfortunate incident with him [Bumrah]. The poor guy has been working very hard at the NCA all this time. Just when he got back to full fitness, he started bowling and everything, the last two days I think this incident happened where he felt a little bit of stiffness in his back. It’s nothing major, it’s just stiffness. [But] when Bumrah says anything we have to be very cautious about it. That is what we did. I thought it was important for us to make that decision then, to just pull him out. When we named him [in the squad], he was in the process of getting his workload done. He was bowling in the nets, just felt a little bit of stiffness in his back. We need to be very careful with him. He had a major injury before the [T20] World Cup. So we just need to be careful.”
Squad for the series against New Zealand and Australia is yet to be announced
