The BCCI, on Monday (August 8), announced Team India’s squad for the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup. And one of the biggest surprises from the squad was the absence of senior fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah. With Bumrah not a part of the squad, Team India have named only three front-line fast-bowlers in the squad for the continental championship.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: No Jasprit Bumrah While Virat Kohli Returns As BCCI Announce India Squad
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar will spearhead the attack, he will have the company of young and inexperienced duo of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. Apart from them, fast-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya is another bowling option for skipper Rohit Sharma. In the spin department, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi have made the cut.
Reason for Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from India squad:
The reason behind Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from Team India’s squad for Asia Cup 2022 is a back injury. According to reports, Bumrah is nowhere close to his full fitness and still need a considerable amount of time to recover fully. With the T20 World Cup not very far away, the selectors have seemingly decided against taking any risk.
“Jasprit Bumrah has a back injury and will not play in the Asia Cup. He is our main bowler and we would like him to be back in action before T20 World Cup. We can’t risk him in Asia Cup and the injury could aggravate,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.
Bumrah last played a competitive game during the ODI series against England last month. He was then rested for the recently-concluded tour of West Indies where India played 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is. The report has further state3d that the back injury would keep him out for some time and he will need to do rehabilitation work at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru before being deemed fit for the white-ball home series against Australia and south Africa in September-October.
This is not the first time that Bumrah has been troubled by a back issue. Few years ago, he was sidelined for a good amount of time due to the same injury. India would be hoping that he recovers soon and gets some much-needed game time before the T20 World Cup gets underway in October.