Team India badly missed the services of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia.

Bumrah has been out of action for a long period because of his recurring back injury. He was last seen in action during the home T20I series against Australia in September 2022.

Earlier this year, the right-arm quick underwent back surgery and missed the IPL 2023 season for Mumbai Indians (MI).

While there has been no official update regarding his return to the game, veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik on Saturday (June 10) provided an important update on Bumrah's progress.

Karthik, who is performing commentary duties in the ongoing WTC final, revealed that Bumrah is aiming to make his comeback during the T20I tour of Ireland in August.

Having been away from the game for an extended period, Bumrah's strategy is to play the shortest format first. Once he builds confidence, the speedster will be able to make a smooth transition into 50-over cricket ahead of the World Cup.

As far as Test cricket is concerned – Bumrah may not feature in any home Test matches. In fact, he has not played a Test on home soil until 2021 while his red-ball debut was in January 2018.

Notably, Jasprit Bumrah picked up a stress fracture on his lower back prior to the Asia Cup last year. On his return in the home T20Is against Australia in September 2022, the fast bowler went down again with the same injury, which ruled him out of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Bumrah was supposed to make his comeback to the India team after a prolong injury lay-off during the ODI series against Sri Lanka in January 2023 but BCCI withdrew his name from the squad, citing that the pacer needs some more time to build bowling resilience.

Before the T20I series in Ireland, Team India will tour West Indies for a full-fledged series comprising two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is in July-August. Following the WTC final, the Indian players will get a much-needed one-month break.

(Zee News Inputs)