The injury suffered by India’s best paceman Jasprit Bumrah during the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney appears to be more serious than expected. When Bumrah left the field for hospital on the second day of the Test, the injury was defined as a simple ‘back spasm’, but the problem is likely to keep him on the sidelines for a longer period. According to reports, Bumrah is set to miss the entire white-ball assignment against England, which includes five T20Is and three ODIs, but his participation in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy is also at risk.
India have already seen Bumrah miss a few important matches due to injury issues and the selectors are hoping that does not happen again. Therefore, it is almost impossible to risk a senior pacer against England. Despite his injury issues, Bumrah is expected to make the Indian Champions Trophy squad, although his participation is conditional, as per a report by RevSportz.
If Bumrah is to be used in an ICC event, the team management will need to obtain clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) medical staff.
“It’s a bit disappointing (when the injury happens), but sometimes you have to respect your body and you can’t fight it,” Bumrah said after the Sydney Test. “Sometimes you have to accept it. You probably wanted to bowl on the spiciest wicket of the series. It was just a bit of discomfort after the first innings.”
Other players who have been out of action for some time, including Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav, are also reportedly being monitored for a possible return.
Among the batsmen, Yashasvi Jaiswal is also likely to feature in India’s ODI squad and is expected to feature in the 50-over and T20 squad against England. However, Jaiswal is being fielded only as a backup opener by the selectors.
Rohit Sharma is expected to open as the captain of the team along with Shubman Gil. They are followed by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer at the third and fourth positions respectively. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are currently competing for the wicket-keeper’s job, but Sanju Samson is not a strong contender for the job. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are expected to form the spin trio, while Washington Sundar is also expected to be selected in the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar.
Hardik Pandya will also be added to the roster, but there is not much confirmation about Nitish Kumar Reddy for the grand event. Varun Chakravarthy is another spinner on the selectors’ radar, but his compatibility with the 50-over format is yet to be proven.
India pacer Mohammed Siraj is expected to be rested for the T20I series against England but is likely to find his name in the squad list for the ODI duty against the same team. He is also likely to be selected for the Champions Trophy along with Arshdeep Singh.
Topics mentioned in this article
