CHENNAI: Days after Jasprit Bumrah was named in the India one-day international squad, he has been sidelined with injury again. The India pacer, who has been recuperating from injury since September last year, apparently is not fit enough to take the field during the ODI series against Sri Lanka starting in Guwahati from Wednesday.
According to the Indian cricket board statement, “Bumrah has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Bumrah, who was set to join the team in Guwahati ahead of the ODI series will need some more time to build bowling resilience. This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has not named any replacement for Jasprit Bumrah.” Rohit Sharma, the India skipper, said during the press conference that it was unfortunate that Bumrah could not make it to the team. He also said that the reason behind this is because of some stiffness on his back. The team management did not want to rush him back.
With the ODI World Cup to be held in the country at the end of this year, every series will be important to figure out the best possible squad. The Men in Blue won the coveted trophy in 2011 under MS Dhoni. Guwahati is just another stepping stone towards fulfilling the dream of winning another Cup at home. “With Rohit leading the side and an attack that has the good mixture of experience and youth the team looks good,’’ said former India player and bowling coach Bharat Arun.
Bumrah, who had been out of action since September last year because of a back injury that flared up in the home series against South Africa, had to miss the T20 World Cup. After rehabilitating at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, Bumrah was initially included in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series, but on Monday he had been ruled out so as to give him ‘more time to build bowling resilence’.
There are quite a few slots up for grabs in the World Cup team. India’s batting will be more or less the same, but their bowling attack is one that could see some change. “From now on every tournament, every series is important to pencil down the team for the marquee event. We have not had time to discuss the matter, but once we meet (all the selectors) the priority will be to watch matches and try to pick the best possible team for the World Cup,’’ national selector, S Sharath, had told this daily as soon he was named national selector by Cricket Advisory Committee a few days ago.
Even though Bumrah is not there, India have a lot of options with Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh around. ‘’The Indian bowling attack has a lot of variety now. Lots of youngsters are getting opportunities. Umran and Arshdeep have a lot of talent among the bowlers around,’’ said Arun from Abu Dhabi. Arun who has groomed most of the bowlers in the current India team believes that the hosts have the right ammunition to win the World Cup. “When Bumrah comes back, It will take him a while to get back to match fitness, but I’m sure he will put his experience to effective use and get his rhythm back,’’ opined Arun.
Speaking on Bumrah’s action, more than a year ago Kiwi great Richard Hadlee had said that the pacer’s action was not a classical one and that he could be prone to injury. “It (action could lead to being injury prone) already has been discussed with Bumrah. He is aware of it. Bumrah is probably one of the most hardworking players around. We have good support staff for him,’’ said Arun.
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In India, wickets aid spinners and thus the hosts could have three to four spinners in their team for the quadrennial tournament. “Yes, definitely wickets in India will help spin. As I said earlier we have a lot of variety in our attack. As we play more and more matches in the lead-up to the World Cup, we will get a clear picture on the composition of the team,’’ said Arun.
R Ashwin is not part of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. The team against New Zealand has not been picked up yet. After which the high-profile Australia Test series will begin at home next month.