The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday (9 January) announced that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah will not take part in India’s three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. The Indian cricket board said that the pacer has not yet gained match fitness and thus, it has decided to not rush his comeback. BCCI also said that this decision has been taken as a precautionary measure.
Notably, Bumrah was a late addition in India’s ODI squad for the three-match series. The BCCI had said that “Bumrah has undergone rehabilitation and has been declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA)” while announcing the pacer’s inclusion. Now, the Indian cricket board has taken a U-turn saying the right-arm quick is not match ready.
With BCCI saying that Bumrah will need more time to build bowling resilience, the premium pacer’s participation in the white-ball series and the Border Gavaskar Trophy has been put into doubt. Reports have emerged that Bumrah will miss the entire New Zealand series and is also doubtful for the first match of the BGT trophy.
An ESPNCrininfo report claimed that Bumrah had passed the match-simulation workload test conducted by NCA in Bengaluru. However, when the pacer was subjected to same amount of workload for two days in a row, he felt a stiffness and thus BCCI decided to give him more time to recover.
“Bumrah is now set to have rest and rehab with the aim being ready to join India's preparatory camp, which is set to begin on February 1, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He will almost certainly miss the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand that begins on January 18,” read an excerpt from the report.
Notably, the 29-year-old has been out of cricketing action since September last year. Bumrah missed Asia Cup 2022 as well as the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. With a spot in WTC Final at stake, India will desperately need Bumrah.