Former India pacer Ashish Nehra is quite surprised that India brought Jasprit Bumrah back for the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday. Bumrah was rested for the T20I and ODI series against West Indies as he played his last international game in South Africa last month.
India rested quite a few players in this series against Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were given a break after the second T20I game against West Indies and they will miss this series against Sri Lanka as well.
Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar have been ruled out of the injuries as they headed to the NCA for their rehabilitation.
Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t played any T20I game since the T20 World Cup
But the only good news for India is that Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are back after a long gap. Jadeja hasn’t played any international cricket for almost three months. The last time he played a match for India, was in November against New Zealand in the first test match in Kanpur.
However former India speedster Ashish Nehra argued that India didn’t need to bring Bumrah back for this series as the schedule ahead is quite packed for him. India will play 2-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting on March 4 in Mohali. Then the 15th edition of IPL will begin in the last week of March and it is likely to go on for two months. Nehra opined that India need to try out other options.
“I am very surprised that Bumrah is playing in these T20Is. Every player wants to play, no doubt, but we have two Tests following this series as well. There are many matches to come. We have so many options among fast bowlers and a significant number of them need game time and confidence,” Ashish Nehra told Cricbuzz.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, for example, need more game time. The moment Bumrah returns to the XI, one of these players will have to miss the spot. So I’m surprised that he is playing here,” he added
The first T20I match between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Lucknow on Thursday, followed by back-to-back matches at Dharamsala on Saturday and Sunday.
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