India’s premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action for a while now. He suffered a back injury last year and is currently rehabilitating at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Ever since getting prone to back injury, Bumrah has not featured in any competitive game and has also missed both Asia Cup and T20 World Cup that took place last year. The 29-year-old was set to make his return in 2023 against Sri Lanka in the three ODIs, but he pulled back off the series due to not being fully fit and in order to not worsen his injury any further.
After registering a dominating win in the recently-concluded third and final ODI against New Zealand, Indian captain Rohit Sharma was asked about Bumrah’s return to the team. Rohit replied by saying that he hopes the right-arm pacer makes a comeback in the last two matches of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023.
“Not too sure about Bumrah, I am hoping he plays the next (last) two Tests (against Australia). We don’t want to take any risks with him, as back injuries are always critical. We have a lot of cricket coming back after that also,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
“We are in constant touch with physios and doctors in NCA. The medical team will give him as much time as he wants,” he added.
As per the reports, Bumrah still requires six weeks to recover fully and that’s the reason he was not included in the first two matches of the BGT 2023. The absence of the Ahmedabad-born cricketer will surely be a concern for India because if they want to reach the finals of the World Test Championship 2023, then they at least need to win three out of the four scheduled matches against the Aussies.
Bumrah will likely join the Indian squad for the last two Tests against Australia, but uncertainty still exists over his fitness.
