Indian fans will have to continue to wait to see their beloved Jasprit Bumrah as the right-arm pacer is yet to get his clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Bumrah played his last game in Indian colors against Australia in Hyderabad where he was smashed to all parts of the ground by the Aussies. The 29-year speedster has been out of action ever since, and with the BCCI announcing the team for the rest of the Australian tour, it seems that he will stay out of action for a few more weeks.
There was a lot of buzz that Bumrah will take on the field at least during the ODI series against Australia if not during the final two tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. However, the NCA has decided to monitor Bumrah’s progress for a few more days before clearing him to join the men in blue.
The hold has been called considering Bumrah’s full-time availability for the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year. The Indian team really missed his presence during the T20 World Cup in October last year as the Indian team lost miserably to England in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup.
Bumrah is expected to lead the Indian pace attack at the ODI World Cup, and the team management is not willing to take any risks pertaining to his health. Moreover, with India’s road to the World Test Championship final looking clearer than ever, BCCI would want him to be a part of the team that travels to London for the final.
Several experts, including the great Andy Roberts, believe that Bumrah’s unusual high-arm movement, a quick run up to the crease, and physical intensity at the time of release might all be factors contributing to his injury risk. Others believe that the primal cause of his injury scare is the fast bowler’s poor workload management by the team.
Bumrah is constantly training at the NCA and his fitness is being closely monitored. With IPL too just around the corner, Mumbai Indians would also be relying on the services of Bumrah to recover from their last season’s harrowing run. However, it would be interesting to see if the NCA permits him to participate in the IPL or not.
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