Surgery not satisfactory, Bumrah ruled out of first Test against England

Wriddhiman Saha is not the only victim of BCCI’s faulty rehabilitation programme. The winds against the board for mismanagement of player injuries gathered momentum after it was confirmed on Monday that Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the first Test match at Edgbaston.

Wriddhiman Saha is not the only victim of BCCI’s faulty rehabilitation programme. The winds against the board for mismanagement of player injuries gathered momentum after it was confirmed on Monday that Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the first Test match at Edgbaston.

Apparently, Bumrah’s surgery on his left-thumb in England did not go according to plans and it will take him longer than usual to get back to full fitness, effectively casting a doubt on his effectiveness in the entire five-match Test series.

Bumrah fractured his left thumb during the 1st T20I against Ireland and missed out on the limited-overs leg of the England tour, prompting the board physios to advise the fast bowler to undergo a surgery in England.

"It is a displaced fracture on the left thumb. From what I know, the operation wasn't a great success," the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source, aware about the development, was quoted as saying by Deccan Chronicle.

The injury will take about to three to four weeks to heal but the Indian team management has decided to stick with Bumrah as the injury is not on his bowling hand. He will be kept under observation and based on his recovery he will be considered for selection from the second Test match if required.

The Indian team management is believed to have taken the risk with Bumrah as India are already without their premiere fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the first three Test matches. India could ill afford to lose Bumrah, which will reduce their five-way pace battery to three – Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

Bumrah, on the hand, departed for London along with Ishant and Shami and will join the rest of the squad on Tuesday.

The BCCI and its National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, where players undergo rehabilitation after an injury lay-off, came under scanner after India’s first choice Test wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha’s suffered a career-threatening shoulder injury during the course of his rehabilitation programme at the NCA, which may keep him out of action for the rest of the year.