Jasprit Bumrah’s Return Delayed As He Will Reportedly Miss The 3 ODIs Against England

Jasprit Bumrah’s return to the Indian cricket national team is likely to take longer than initially anticipated.

India’s pace-spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the ODI series against England which will take place after the completion of 5 T20Is. The 27-year-old, already rested from the five-match T20I series against the visitors, was released from the squad for the fourth and final Test on Saturday for personal reasons.

Jasprit Bumrah Should Be Given Rest For White Ball Leg: BCCI Official

Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the 2nd Test at Chepauk, which India won by 317 runs to level the four-match series 1-1. He did return for the third match at his hometown Ahmedabad, which India won by ten wickets to take a 2-1 lead. He has picked 4 scalps bowling 48 overs averaging 32.25 in 2 Tests against England. According to reports, the return of the right-arm pacer having a sling action to the national team is likely to take longer than initially anticipated.

“Jassi has already bowled close to 180 overs, including nearly 150 overs (149.4 overs) in four Test matches (till the first Test versus England) since the start of the Australian tour. Add to that, the number of hours spent on the field. It is only logical that after these two Tests in Motera, where he will have a big role to play, he should be given rest for white-ball leg,” a senior BCCI official had earlier said ahead of the third Test.

Ishant Sharma who has picked 6 scalps in 3 Tests averaging 22.83 in the ongoing Test series against England bowling 50 overs so far, missed out on the entire Australian Test tour due to injury concerns. Umesh Yadav played 2 Tests in the Australian tour picking 4 wickets before the injury. Mohammed Siraj was India’s leading wicket-taker with 13 scalps in his debut series bowling 134.2 overs while Jasprit Bumrah picked 11 scalps bowling 117.4 overs.

Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, and T Natarajan stepped up in the absence of senior players like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Virat Kohli in the Australia Test series. Mohammed Siraj was handed a debut in the Melbourne Test (Boxing Day Test) after senior pacer Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the series due to a fractured wrist.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Might Make Comeback In ODIs After Being Included In Squad For 5 T20Is Against England

The logic behind resting pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the white ball leg is simple. The five T20 Internationals and three ODIs against England will be the last chance for Indian team management to have a look at all potential players going into this year’s T20I World Cup.

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar might make a comeback and Mohammed Shami after a break will play a few white-ball games. Nattu (T Natarajan) and Saini will also come back in the white-ball teams. As far as Jassi is concerned, he can well get ready playing 14 to 16 high-intensity IPL games for Mumbai Indians,” the source added.

The likes of spinner all-rounder Rahul Tewatia, batsman Suryakumar Yadav, and keeper Ishan Kishan have been named for the first time in the 5 match T20I squad. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been included but he failed the requisite fitness test. T Natarajan who had an impressive Australia limited-overs leg has been included in the T20I squad with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, and Navdeep Saini as the pacers.

The ODI series will be played in Pune, starting March 23. The T20I World Cup was last held in 2016 in India and was supposed to be held in Australia in 2020, but the Covid-19 outbreak saw the tournament being postponed to 2021.