Jasprit Bumrah has successfully passed fitness tests at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and is eligible to take part in the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in the coming weeks. India’s superstar fast bowler had been released from the Test squad as he had suffered an impact injury in the recent ODI series in England and had to retire early in the third ODI at Lord’s to play out the series.
An official from the BCCI confirmed that Bumrah has fully recovered from his impact injury and has passed the fitness checks by the Centre of Excellence. He will be available to play both games and is critical to India’s bowling attack,” he said. The two-match series in Sri Lanka will be held on 15 August in Galle and the second and final Test will be held on 23 August in Colombo.
Trying to navigate the way to the WTC Final at the very least. The news of Bumrah's return is a big plus for India at a crucial time in the current World Test Championship cycle. To keep the hopes alive for a place at the summit clash, India has to win at least seven of the remaining nine Test matches. They have to complete a clean 2-0 series against Sri Lanka before they go on one of the toughest away series against New Zealand. The two-time WTC runners-up are in a bind as they have already lost four of their first nine games in this round and were only able to win a 0-2 series in South Africa.
Managing an Injury-Ravaged Squad
While Bumrah’s clearance provides much-needed relief, the Indian team managers have a long list of injuries in pace and spin. The squad will not have Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy to play because of hamstring and quadriceps strains respectively. Another all-rounder Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the opening Test for a hamstring strain and fast bowler Akash Deep will spend time on the recovery table as he is experiencing stress reactions in his back. On a day when the depth in India is being tested, Bumrah's experience and leadership will be crucial as he is going to make sure India starts in Sri Lanka well.
