Jasprit Bumrah, India’s Test deputy, hasn’t featured in any professional cricket since the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to a lower back stress fracture, which has delayed his IPL return with the Mumbai Indians. Bumrah has already sat out three IPL matches for the five-time champions this season and is likely to miss a few more games as he moves into the final phase of his rehabilitation.
Bumrah is nearly set to return following an extended recovery from an injury that had ruled him out of bowling in the fourth innings of the SCG Test, according to a report from ESPNcricinfo. The report states that Bumrah is close to completing his final fitness assessments before being declared match-ready at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. Both Bumrah and the BCCI have taken a cautious and measured approach to his recovery with a crucial five-Test home series against England lined up right after the IPL.
MI Banking on Young Guns as Bumrah Set to Miss Two More Matches
With teams playing on all kinds of pitches this IPL season, the Mumbai Indians are really missing the special impact that Bumrah brings to any team he plays for. Before the tournament started, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that not having Bumrah would be a big challenge. Even though the team has been using Ashwani Kumar and Satyanarayan Raju as backup Indian fast bowlers, they’re still hoping Bumrah can return soon.
Since Bumrah is now expected to miss at least the next two games against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Mumbai will have to depend on the experience of Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Mitchell Santner. They’ll also be looking forward to more good performances from Ashwani and left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur, who both had promising debuts.
Mumbai Indians have played three matches so far won one and lost two. After their strong win over KKR at home a few days ago, they’ll be eager to keep that momentum going.
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