India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been away from competitive action for nearly a year now. Bumrah missed the Asia Cup 2022, the T20 World Cup 2022 and the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season due to a recurring back injury.
Bumrah underwent a back surgery in March this year and his recovery process has been underway at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru since then.
There are speculations that the ace pacer will make a comeback to the national team during the T20I tour of Ireland next month. However, India skipper Rohit Sharma has no idea about it.
While Rohit said “things look positive at the moment” as far as Bumrah’s recovery is concerned, he couldn’t guarantee whether the latter would board the plane for Ireland.
“The amount of experience he (Bumrah) brings is very important. Right now he’s coming from a serious injury and I’ve no idea if he’ll travel to Ireland because the team hasn’t been announced yet,” Rohit said while addressing a press conference on the eve of the first ODI against West Indies in Barbados.
“If he gets to play then it’s good and we hope he plays before the World Cup. When a player returns from a serious injury, match fitness, match feeling are some key components, which are missing.
“We’ll see what has been planned and everything depends on his recovery. We are in constant touch with the NCA and things look positive at the moment,” he added.
Last week, the BCCI issued a statement, providing an update that Bumrah is in the final stage of his rehab and he is bowling with full intensity in the nets.
In its statement, the Indian board also mentioned that the NCA will now organize some practice matches for the right-arm quick while also adding that the medical team is pleased with his progress and will make a final decision after assessing him following the practice games.
Besides Bumrah, the Indian team is also sweating over the fitness of key players like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.
Speaking about the Indian team’s injury woes, Rohit said: “You need experience when you go into big tournaments. But when there are injuries, you just don’t know what you can do about it.”
“Quite a few players are injured from our team but we try to identify players who are going to play in the World Cup and give them as many matches as possible so that they get the experience.
“Along with focusing on the XI, we need to focus on other 15-20 players too because anyone can get injured,” he further stated.
Rohit Sharma also highlighted the importance of the West Indies ODI series keeping the upcoming 50-over World Cup in mind.
“This (West Indies) is a very important series for us because many players are new here, they haven’t played many matches, so it’s important to give them exposure. They should be played and given a role and we will also get a chance to see if they have been given a role, how they are performing in the role, and how they are responding. In the three matches here, which all players we can give chances to and then we will take a decision after these 10-12 ODIs (before the World Cup),” the captain remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
