Jasprit Bumrah Unlikely To Regain Fitness In Time For IPL 2023, WTC Final: Report
Jasprit Bumrah, India's pace spearhead, has been out of action since September 2022.
In the biggest news around the Indian cricket circuit at the moment, it is being learnt that the injury to speedster Jasprit Bumrah is more serious than it appeared to be initially and the fast bowler is unlikely to play any part in the Indian Premier League. This could be a massive blow to not only his franchise Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but also Team India as the 29-year-old might even miss the World Test Championship final, should India qualifty for the summit clash of the 2021-23 cycle.
A report carried by Cricbuzz has claimed that sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as the Indian Premier League have both suggested that the right-arm speedster will be out of action for longer than expected, having last played a competitive cricket match in September 2022. The same report suggest that Bumrah is not feeling comfortable at the moment and even though he was expected to make a comeback with the cash-rich league in April-May, he will be out for months more.
It makes more sense though to leave Bumrah out for the IPL and the WTC final rather than rushing him to the Playing 11 as had been the case earlier which could have further aggravated the injury. The Indian team management want him fit for the marquee white-ball tournament at home this year- the ODI World Cup in October-November.
While initially Bumrah making a comeback with the IPL also made sense as it required him bowlinh just four overs per match but the BCCI will now a meticulous comeback plan for one of its biggest match-winners and is ready to wait that extra bit for his comeback. It would be interesting to see the plans of Bumrah's franchise Mumbai Indians though as his shoes would have to be filled by a domestic talent which won't be an easy job to do with him being rated one of the best in the world.