Star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has undergone a back surgery in New Zealand. The right-arm fast bowler has been out of competitive cricket action since September last year and was expected to make a comeback in IPL 2023 when it was reported that his injury will take more time to heal.
The 29-year-old now will aim to recover quickly and get back to playing some competitive cricket to make the ODI World Cup squad later in home this year after missing out on a chance to be part of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup squad last year.
The development has been confirmed in a report carried by ESPNCricinfo which claims that the Mumbai Indians speedster is set to be in New Zealand till the end of March. His comeback timeline is being monitored by BCCI's medical staff and the idea is to get him to start bowling by August with a steady increase in his workload to get him ready for the marquee ICC tournament this year.
Meanwhile, the said report has also claimed that the National Cricket Academy (NCA) was handling Bumrah's injury on a priority and was responsible in suggesting surgery as an option. However, the final was taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after consulting both the NCA and the cricketer himself.
What makes this an annoying wait for the star speedster's return on the cricket field is that he has tried to make a comeback multiple times but each time the wait has gotten elongated. His injury had not seemed this serious initially after missing out on the Asia Cup last year, he was included in the India team squad for the T20 World Cup, even playing a couple of T20Is to prove that he was ready for international cricket but the back issues came back to haunt him.
It was then revealed that he would return in the series against Sri Lanka but Bumrah felt the niggles yet again and when he looked set to return in IPL 2023, it was confirmed that the fast bowler would not only miss the T20 tournament but also the World Test Championship final, should India qualify for the summit clash in June.